


open up my eager eyes

by blankiehxrry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Bottom Harry, Exhibitionism, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, Rimming, Spanking, Summer Romance, which obviously turns into something more if you catch my drift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-11 23:59:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2087922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blankiehxrry/pseuds/blankiehxrry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is not about to spend the summer before uni picking up after his mother’s messy life and involving himself with some boy, some boy who giggles too much and loves so intensely and has the voice and lips of an angel. But it seems as if he has no choice. </p><p>also known as the one where louis is hopelessly immune to the charm of one gangly harry styles. angst ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	open up my eager eyes

**Author's Note:**

> im honestly still shocked this is even finished. i sat down one day thinking i'd whip this out in a month or so, which really amounted to seven months of kicking myself to sit down and write this all out before i lost the motivation. i must give credit where it is due, and this fic was based off a lovely book that ive read a dozen times called this lullably by sarah dessen. the title was also shamelessly taken from mr. brightside by the killers. a lot of people have helped me out and listened to me complain and whine about this fic which has somehow become like a child to me; you know who you are and thank you. i really hope anyone who comes across this likes it! it's the longest fic i've written to date, so i suppose now i'll just go and lie down to sleep for a few months while i recover. comments and kudos are highly appreciated (kind words only please!)
> 
> disclaimer: i very clearly do not own one direction or anything connected to or affiliated with them, yada yada yada.

Louis is eighteen. He's legally an adult, legally allowed to make his own decisions and dictate his life however he so chooses. But if there's one thing he's learned in his eighteen years, it's that life isn't always fair. For example, last week when Louis wanted to go with Stan to Greg's huge end-of-school party, but instead he had to babysit Fizzy and her dumb friends. Or like when he was seven and wanted to roller-skate off the roof and into the pool but his mum promised he’d be grounded for a month if he even dare tried (he still holds a grudge over that because, hey, it would have been fun).

Even now, when Louis could be spending his day lounging in his underwear and watching reruns of Skins in between getting himself off, he's instead stuck playing messenger between his mum and Dan. They're getting married at the end of summer, which means his mum will be very busy and very grouchy for the next two months. He knows this because she gets this way about every project she throws herself into. She finds something to keep her occupied and absorbs herself until she's ready to move on. (And okay, this might be Louis way of hinting that he doesn't believe this marriage is going to work out, as nice as Dan is, but he'd never admit it if you called him out on it.)

Dan works at a car dealership in Doncaster and almost immediately upon learning this, Louis made it his goal to never stoop so low as to sell cars. It's the dullest work he's ever seen; he's almost ashamed to say that because that means he's been to visit often enough that he's noticed what a boring job it is.

But it's true. The only mild satisfaction to be found is when someone actually purchases a car, which is less frequent than you might think. Louis once spent an entire day watching from the air-conditioned office as Dan stood outside in the hot sun, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to sell a used Prius to an elderly woman. All he witnessed was a half hour of a bunch of hesitant nodding and useless negotiating before the woman left without making a purchase and no promise to return.

Now, as Louis walks into the building, he stops at the front desk to ask if Dan is busy.

"Sorry, love, he's in a meeting. You'll have to wait about ten minutes," Lizzy, the front desk receptionist, smiles sweetly up at him. "But I'll ring him and let him know you're here."

"Thanks, Liz," Louis grumbles. He turns on his heel and heads to across the room to where a row of plastic chairs sit. He plops down in one and pulls out his phone while he waits.

He’s just gotten his highest score on a photo shoot on Kim K Hollywood (Lottie downloaded it on his phone, he was just a hopeless victim) when the sheer force of something knocks into his chair and sends his phone tumbling out of his hand.

"Fuck," Louis yells, before realizing he’s still in a public place and lowers his voice. He turns to his left and finds another boy, close to his own age, smiling at him. Well, smiling isn't exactly the right word. More like grinning at him like the cat who got the canary, dimples etched deep into his cheeks. His curly mop of brown hair is disheveled like he's just run a mile and his green eyes are twinkling like he knows a secret.

"Oops," the boy giggles from behind his hand. Speaking of his hands, Louis notes they're giant, and as pissed off as he is right now, he can always appreciate a good pair of hands.

"Yeah, okay, _hi_." Louis can tell from his face that this boy isn't sorry one bit for jostling him. He leans down to pick up his phone and inspects it for any cracks or scratches. He could use another reason to be mad because already he feels his anger subsiding. (He has a soft spot for pretty boys, that doesn't make him weak.)

"'m Harry," Pretty Boy says, absently licking his lips. He sticks out his hand, which Louis takes hesitantly. Harry has a firm handshake, which gives Louis other ideas about his hands.

"You sure about that?" Louis quips back.

"Erm...yes?" Harry's eyebrows furrow and it's the cutest thing Louis ever seen, though he'll never admit it.

"Are you sure you're not annoying and obtrusive?" Louis watches with satisfaction as Harry sits there for a moment in confusion. It's clear when he gets the joke because his face lights up like he's won the lottery and wasn't just insulted.

"You're funny," Harry laughs good-naturedly. "I need your number."

"Excuse me?" Louis raises a brow. Who is this boy sitting in front of him?

"We need to be friends," Harry's saying as he pulls out his phone and opens up to a new contact.

He looks at Louis expectantly, fingers poised over the keys.

"I'm not giving you my number," Louis scoffs. He stubbornly crosses his arms at his chest and shuts his mouth.

"Yes you are," Harry says as if it's the easiest thing in the world.

They're both interrupted as Lizzy calls over to Louis and alerts him that Dan is ready for him.

"We're not done here, Lou," Harry grins up at Louis as he stands and heads towards Dan's office.

"Oh, I think we are, _Hazza_ ," Louis shoots back and before Harry can get in another word, he shuts the door to Dan's office.

-

"So Louis." Dan smiles. He's leaning back comfortably in his chair and Louis shifts awkwardly in his. "Here to buy a car?"

See, here's the thing. Louis doesn't like Dan. He just doesn't. Never has. And it isn't anything against Dan's character - though he tells too many corny jokes and he dismisses all his mum's attempts at trying to involve him in any of her new projects, which irks Louis because, hey, at least he'll take the time to indulge her - but he tries to spend the least amount of time around him as possible. It's a solid plan since he leaves for university in August, only two short months away.

He supposes it dates back to the very first time he met Dan, when he was seventeen and loathed the entire world for existing. He’d just come home from practice, football tucked under his arms and muddy cleats hooked on his fingers. He'd glided past the living room in favor of the kitchen and had planned on eating at least three granola bars when he found his mum shoved up against one end of the counter, snogging some weird man. Safe to say he wasn’t a huge fan of Dan from the get-go.

Now, Louis grimaces. "Funny," he says flatly. "No actually. Mum wanted me to stop by and let you okay the guest list. She added just a few dozen more people and wants to send out the invites soon."

"Oh, yes," Dan says. He leans forward and takes the paper that Louis produces out of his pocket and offers him.

He begins to scan over the list and Louis sighs and stands up.

"That's it?" Dan looks up. His expression is almost hurt, as if he really did expect Louis to want to buy a car.

"I've done my part," Louis shrugs and picks at the sleeve of his jumper. Being around Dan too long makes him itch for a smoke. "Let me know if there's anything you need to change.”

"Well..." Dan trails off. He looks like he's trying to think of a reason for Louis to stay. "Call if there's anything else your mother needs."

Louis nods and salutes him goodbye. As he opens the door, he nearly runs into something tall and gangly.

"Of course," Louis smacks his hand over his face. He peeks through his fingers and yup, there's Harry, grinning down at him like an absolute freak. Now that they’re both standing, he comes to the humiliating realization that Harry is at least three inches taller than him.

"Do you do anything besides smile like an idiot?" Louis whines.

"My mum says it makes me look charming." Harry literally clasps his hands together and bats his eyelashes and who is this boy.

"More like gagging for it," Louis mutters under his breath but Harry hears him and winks.

"Guess you'll find out if you give me your number," he dimples, clearly pleased that he's come up with something witty.

Louis is about to say no again, shoot back and call Harry another dumb name, but he stops. What could be so bad about giving this boy his number? Unless he's a murderer or rapist, there's not much else that would put Louis off. He considers it for a moment more before sighing in defeat and holding out his hand.

"Hand it over," he says tiredly. Harry whoops and pulls the phone from the back pocket of his ridiculously tight jeans.

Louis taps in his number, sets his contact name as tall dark and handsome and hands the device back to Harry. He's positively beaming now, and before Louis can react he grabs his hands and plants a kiss on it.

"Okay, Prince Charming, too far," Louis says, retracting his hand and wiping it on his pants.

"I would argue that it's not far enough," Harry winks. "Also, I prefer Princess. I'll be looking forward to seeing you again Louis."

Harry starts heading towards Dan's office. He's walking backwards and still smiling at Louis.

"I have my doubts," Louis says, eyes shamelessly raking up and down Harry's lengthy body. He’s quite fit.

They both finally break their facades when Harry ends up tripping over a tire set and they laugh as Harry rights it and stumbles into the office.

"See you soon!" Harry calls and Louis flips him the bird over his back.

\--

"Mum?" Louis calls as he walks into the kitchen.

After his weird visit to the dealership, Louis had stopped by the store and picked up a sandwich and drink for himself as well as a pack of powdered doughnuts for his sisters. He's such a good big brother. He should win an award or something.

"Mum, are you home?" He calls again. He wanders through the family room and the home office before he works his way upstairs and finds his mother in her bedroom, surrounded by at least fifteen lit candles and a Buddha statue.

"Shh," she hushes him. Her eyes remain closed as she lifts her hands above her head and slowly brings them back down to her lap.

"I'll come back later then," he mutters and heads down the hall to his own room.

"Lou? 's that you?" Lottie pokes her head out of her room.

Out of all his sisters, Louis would have to say that Lottie is his favorite. It mostly stems from the fact that she’s the closest to him in age, but she has other worthwhile characteristics as well. She can be such a girl sometimes, so awfully annoying and pestering, but she's smart and witty and she reminds Louis a lot of himself when he was fifteen. She's got a good head on her, knows a lot about the world already and she's great at giving advice. Louis always comes to her if his mother isn't around to listen to him mope, which is becoming the case more and more because she's so busy planning the wedding.

"The one and only," Louis says as he flops down on his bed.

She wanders her way into his room and sits down on his bed. "Mum's up to something strange," she faux-whispers. She's laying by his feet and her hair tickles his toes.

"I noticed. Meditation, perhaps?" He muses.

They've come to accept their mother's strange antics; she's up to something new every week. Last Friday, she was certain she was going to write the next great novel, but then Saturday morning she found the cutest pair of running shoes and boasted to the family that she was going to start training for a marathon. It's her thing.

"Or some weird kind of ritual." Lottie scrunches her nose and rolls her eyes.

"I doubt our mother is associating with the devil," Louis laughs.

"Dunno, that statue is awfully creepy."

"It's a Buddha, Lots." Louis flips onto his stomach and unlocks his phone. He almost cries when he sees he already has a text from an unknown number.

_Hiiiii Lou. Louis. Lou. I think I'll call you Lou from now on. Enjoyed seeing tall dark and handsome appear in my contacts. Very fitting, besides the tall part. Anyways, are you free this weekend? H xxx._

He could groan at the sheer amount of cuteness he feels seeping through the message.

"Oh, and who's that?" Lottie rests her chin on Louis' shoulder. "A secret admirer?"

"It's no one," Louis snaps and locks his phone. "Absolutely unimportant."

"What's unimportant?" Jay finally pokes her head through their room. She uses a gym towel to wipe at the sweat on her forehead.

"Louis' got a boyfriend!" Lottie cackles as she narrowly avoids Louis' swipe at her. She rolls off the bed and onto her feet where she goes to stand by their mum.

"Oh really?" Jay's face lights up much too suddenly for Louis' liking. It's not like he's never had a boyfriend before. She shouldn't be so shocked that he can pull guys, honestly.

"No, I really don't and I'd appreciate it if you didn't involve yourself in my personal life," he mumbles.

"My apologies, it's not as if we're family or anything," his mum laughs, unfazed. "Do you think you'll be here for dinner?"

Louis' about to reply when he gets another text.

_Would asking you to hang out tonight be pushing my luck? .xx_

And in any other case Louis would say no, because truthfully he doesn't know if Harry's some kind of serial killer trying to lure him in with his boyish good looks and charm. But he doesn't want to spend the rest of the night with his mum and sisters watching Britain's Top Model and talking about the wedding. So he sends off a you win this time, when will u pick me up? and turns his attention back to his mum.

"Actually, I have plans."

-

Harry, that annoying bastard, promised he'd be over to pick Louis up within the hour and he's still not here. Louis' been sitting on the hood of his own car for half the time. He's sure as hell not waiting inside because anyone would have to have shit for brains if they thought he was letting Harry meet his family already. He's barely letting Harry call this a date because he's still set on being stubborn and moody the whole night.

As soon as he'd heard back from Harry and managed to get his mum to stop asking him what he was doing, he worked on putting himself together to look half-presentable, definitely trying for the whole I-rolled-out-of-bed-looking-like-this-yes-you-can-oggle-my-bum kind of look. If you were wondering, he succeeded. He even put on his favorite pair of jeans that make his ass look fantastic.

Just as Louis is about to head back inside in defeat, he hears what sounds like a dying animal coming from down the street. Headlights turn around the corner and start heading towards Louis' house. Oh no, Louis thinks. It can't be him.

But it is Harry. Of course it is. Harry who has an obnoxious personality and an obnoxious car as well. He pulls up to the house and parks before hopping out and heading to where Louis sits.

"Your car sounds like a deranged cat," Louis comments. He slides off the hood and walks to meet Harry halfway.

"Heyyy," Harry drawls, pouting. He stops in the middle of the sidewalk and cocks his head. "Don't you want me to come in?"

"Oh no, not tonight. This is not turning into a meet and greet with my mum." Louis sets his hands on Harry's shoulders and guides him back towards the car. The boy has the coordination of a baby deer and he stumbles his way over the curb and to the door.

"Wait!" Harry cries. He wobbles his way over to the passenger side and shoves Louis out of the way so he can open the door for him. "'s only proper," he whines, distraught.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Louis grumbles and seats himself in the car. Satisfied, Harry returns back to his side and situates his bum into the seat.

"So?" Louis asks when he doesn't start the car immediately. "What're we waiting for?"

"Sorry, the car just needs a gentle start." Harry frowns and looks down to where he's been twisting the key in the ignition. After a few more quick twists of the wrist, (no, Louis' mind is not straying towards handjobs) the car sputters to life and they're off, heading down the street and turning out of the neighborhood.

There's some kind of hipster CD playing, lots of banjo and soulful lyrics that would hit home if Louis was into that kind of stuff. Harry's humming along and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the beat of the drum and Louis won't ever say it out loud but he kind of sort of wants to kiss him. Only sort of.

"You gonna tell me where we're going? Or am I waiting for the part where you pull over in the middle of nowhere and gag me before throwing me in the trunk?" Louis pulls his feet up and props them up on the dashboard, displaying his . He figures Harry won't mind since his car already looks like it hasn't been cleaned since the 90s.

"Actually I was planning on tying you up and strapping you to the roof for a bit of fun, but I suppose your way works just as well," Harry says and grins.

"So long as you're gentle," Louis replies. His original plan for resisting Harry's charm for the whole night is failing quite rapidly. Keep it together, Tommo, he reprimands himself. You aren’t this easy.

"Always," Harry says seriously. He winks at Louis before returning his eyes back to the road.

It's quiet for a few minutes as they drive through the warm night. England is often always cold, but sometimes during the summer, a particularly warm night will come along when the air stills and the sun takes a little longer to set and it feels like being wrapped up in a blanket. Louis' always been fond of those kinds of nights.

It's as Harry's pulling into a car park in front of a Tesco that Louis finally gets curious and speaks up. "What exactly are we doing?"

"Getting snacks!" Harry exclaims excitedly. Louis’ disovered that Harry has a habit of assuming he and Louis are always on the same page. They often aren’t.

He parks the car - with some difficulty, Louis notes - and helps Louis out of the passenger seat. They enter through the automatic sliding doors and Harry leads them towards the candy and crisps section.

"Pick your poison," Harry says once they're stood in front of the sweets aisle.

"Oh," says Louis, smirking. "So you are trying to drug me."

Harry giggles and bumps his shoulder. "But hey, at least I'm behaving like a gentleman."  
Louis hums his agreement while he searches up and down the aisle. He debates between classic sour straws and chocolate covered raisins until Harry suggests he get both.

"You’ve got a good head on ya’, Harold," Louis smiles and they go to check out. Harry's chosen Junior Mints for himself and they pick up two Cokes before purchasing. Louis fights Harry about paying, but in the end, the cashier takes Harry's cash and Louis pouts all the way to the car.

"'s only snacks, Lou. You can buy on our second date." Harry's practically skipping and Louis has to suppress a groan as they get back into the car and pull out of the lot.

"Sorry, I wasn't aware this was our first, much less that there would be more."

"Oh, I fully predict that there will be." Harry's not looking at him, but Louis knows that his dimples have popped out and he's grinning so hard that he's probably about to pull a muscle.

"Yeah, yeah," Louis grumbles. He watches out of the window as they pass a strip mall and a posh looking neighborhood. Harry keeps going straight until finally, "The drive-in?"

Louis can't help but laugh. Harry frowns at him as he pays admission and drives along the bumpy gravel until they park. Their spot is near the front, closer to the screen. There are two cars on either side of them and three in front. Behind them the sprawling car park is filled with chatting teens and elderly couples. People have decked out their trunk beds with pillows and chairs. Couples have coolers with beer and popsicles and little kids are running around in their pajamas. It all feels very reminiscent of simpler times. Louis vaguely remembers coming here with his family once or twice when he was still young and careless.

And dammit, if Louis wanted to kiss Harry before, this only intensifies that want.

"I thought I was being romantic," Harry mumbles.

He motions for Louis to get out of the car. From the trunk, Harry produces a set of pillows and a thick sleeping bag, which he unzips and settles on the hood.

"Up we go," he says and the two of them slide up so that their backs are settled against the windshield. Louis smiles and tries to catch Harry's eyes but he's resolutely staring forward at the black screen.

"Hey," Louis says. He starts to reach out to put a hand on Harry's arm, but he stops himself and laces his fingers together on his lap. "I didn't mean to make you feel like I don't like this. I do."

Harry looks over at him after a minute. "I just don't want you to feel like you're being forced into being here."

Did you hear that, universe? That was the thunderous sound of Louis’ heart breaking because Harry is a softie, a real life teddy bear whose stuffing falls out at the slightest poke.

"I don't," Louis is quick to say. And it's true, he realizes. He has had a decent time so far. "I'm happy to be here and it's great so far and I'm excited to watch the movie and laugh louder than everyone so that the entire crowd hates us by the end."

Harry cracks a smile at that and boldly leans in to rest his head on Louis' shoulder.

"Sounds good to me," he says softly. And, okay, did he just nuzzle his face against Louis’ shoulder? Did that really just happen? Louis might just melt.

"What are we seeing anyways?" Louis asks to distract himself from the way Harry has molded himself into his side. Louis had looked earlier for a sign of some sort, but there hadn't been one.

"Grease," Harry replies through a yawn, and Louis thinks fuck it before he wraps an arm around this strange boy, whom he's already comfortable enough with to cuddle. Harry leans in appreciatively and lets out a soft noise of content once he’s settled in.

"So you're a kidnapper and a mind-reader." Louis feels Harry's shoulders shake with laughter. “Grease is my favorite.”

"Everyone likes Grease, so I'm afraid I can't live up to your ideas about my abilities."

Louis is about to make a joke about how mind-reading is the make-or-break of a good date, but he’s cut off when an elderly woman in the car to their right shushes them with a raised fist that she waves in an attempt to be threatening.

All it accomplishes is the two boys breaking into muffled giggles until the screen lights up and the movie starts. Harry digs out their candy and sodas and they spend the rest of the night snuggled close on the hood of Harry’s decrepit car, singing along obnoxiously to Summer Nights and Louis thinks belatedly that he feels like he’s known Harry for years instead of hours.

\--

Louis awakes the next morning with a crick in his neck and a dry mouth. He gets up slowly and meanders his way to the bathroom where gulps down a glass of water and tries to make sense of his fringe.

Somewhere between finger combing his hair and gargling down some mouthwash, he remembers the finer details of last night and smiles secretly to himself.

After the movie, Harry drove Louis home and walked him to the door – totally a John Hughes movie cliché – before kissing his cheek and leaving Louis blushing as he watched the younger boy skip back to his car and drive off into the night.

His mum was relentless when he walked inside, asking him who he was with and where they went. He knew that she knew he’d been on a date, but he figured he’d play it casual for as long as he could. Lottie ruined it all when she came in and told everyone about the text she’d seen and Louis finally had to run up and lock himself in his room to get his mum to stop commenting on his flushed cheeks.

Now, he comes downstairs with sleepy eyes and passes the family room where Daisy and Phoebe are watching cartoons as he heads into the kitchen.

His mum is already standing over the stove, frying up some eggs. She lifts her head and smiles as he shuffles in and grabs a bowl from the cabinet.

“Cereal?” She says, mocking offense. “I’m making eggs for the girls. I could make some for you too.”

“Nah, not too hungry,” he grumbles as he sits at the barstool with his Lucky Charms.

“Is someone lovesick with no appetite?” She snickers at her own joke as she turns the stove off and wipes her hands on a dish towel.

“Sod off, it was one date,” Louis whines, pouring more milk into his bowl.

“So you admit it was a date! Now we’re making some progress.” His mum winks before she pokes her head into the family room to call the girls into breakfast.

Louis does his best not to drown himself in his milk.

-

Louis spends the rest of his morning laying on his bed and watching reruns of The Inbetweeners. He has a nice wank during the commercials and checks his Facebook feed half a dozen times before he has to roll out of his blanket cocoon and hop into the shower.

If it were an ideal world, Louis would have this last summer before university entirely to himself. He could devote entire days to sleeping and seeing how many orders of Nandos he could buy before they knew his regular order. He’d pick Stan up and drive them down to the beach where they could spend hours lying on the sand and playing football.

But his mum had so generously forced him into get a job. In turn, he had forced Stan to get a job with him. So now, he’s working at a music store that sells used CDs and records. It’s easy work and he gets to control what they listen to during their shifts, so it’s a win-win .

Once he’s out of the shower, Louis hurries to dress and grabs his keys to head out the door. His mum’s already left for the day with his sisters in tow, so he locks up the house and drives off to pick up Stan.

Louis has been friends with Stan since they met in primary school and Louis kicked a football at his head. Stan has been the only person who never turned his back on Louis, even when he came out in year nine. He was the one who called Louis’ mum the day he got beat up behind the gym and helped him to the bathroom where they cleaned up his bloody nose.

Louis admires Stan a lot for his easy-going personality. He goes with the flow, which lets Louis act comfortably as the leader because Stan will do quite anything Louis asks of him.

“Oi, you’re ten minutes late and now we won’t clock in on time,” Stan accuses as he buckles himself into the car.

“I doubt anyone’s missing us too terribly,” Louis replies. “Zayn’s probably too immersed in his Bob Marley mix-tape to notice that we aren’t there yet.”

Zayn is the other employee at the shop. The manager trusts Zayn the most, which is why he gets shifts alone. Every week, he makes these depressing mixes about lost love and pining. It makes Louis’ ears bleed if he’s forced to listen for too long. But he supposes Zayn’s face makes up for it. He has the sharpest cheekbones known to man and he’s a sort of leather enthusiast. Louis both loves and loathes when he has a shift with Zayn for these reasons.

It takes them about five more minutes to get to the shop and Louis’ right because as soon as they walk in, Zayn barely lifts his head in acknowledgement from where he’s bent over his laptop, which Louis can see is open to iTunes.

“Zayney, how’s your day been?” Louis hops over the counter while Stan goes to clock them both in.

“Nnngh,” Zayn mumbles. Louis hooks his chin over Zayn’s shoulder and watches as he downloads Justin Bieber’s newest album.

“Oh no, you can’t have stooped so low,” Louis buries his face in Zayn’s neck.

“He’s hot in the industry right now, it’d be wrong not to support him,” Zayn argues.

“If you mean he’s hot-boxing the industry, then yes, I suppose you’d be right,” Louis huffs. He noses his way across the fine stubble that dusts Zayn’s jaw. He only wishes he could have been so lucky to hook up with Zayn before he decidedly settled on liking girls.

“The amount of weed you smoke does not determine the quality of music you produce,” Zayn snaps back. It’s like he’s reciting lines out of a textbook. Maybe he’s the next great philosopher. Louis doesn’t bother coming up with a retort because he’s too busy smelling Zayn.

“Alright, we’re clocked in,” Stan announces as he comes out of the backroom. He tosses Louis his name-tag and Zayn shuts down his computer.

Just as he’s about to leave, he snaps his fingers. “By the way, a customer called in earlier asking if we could put a few albums on hold, so you should be expecting them to stop by at some point today.”

“Albums on hold? They act as if there’s any competition.” Louis waves his hand around, gesturing to the empty shop.

“Don’t ask me, mate,” Zayn shrugs. “Just passing along the message.”

Stan and Louis wave goodbye and blow kisses to Zayn until he’s completely out of the shop. Louis tries not to swoon too much as he watches Zayn slide on his jacket and pile a helmet atop his head, straddling his motorcycle and taking off down the road. It’s like he was specifically designed to make Louis suffer.

The rest of the afternoon is spent fucking around. Only three other people stop in all day, so Louis and Stan take advantage of the opportunity and blast the music and toss crisps into each other’s mouths. At one point, Louis thinks it’s a good idea to try sliding across the aisles in his socks, but that fails as soon as he crashes into a display of new released albums and has to spend the next hour organizing it again.

Right around the time they’re due to close up shop, two boys come in and head towards the counter. One is blonde and pale, lanky with a bit of chub on his cheeks. The other is tall and has a short buzzcut along with a smattering of stubble along his jaw.

“Hey mates, what can we do for you?” Stan says. He kicks Louis in the shin when he continues to throw paper clips at his face.

“We’re actually here to pick up some vinyl,” the dark-haired boy says. “I’m Liam, I called to put them on hold? There should be three there - Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, and The Ramones?”

“Sure, just a mo’.” Stan sighs when he realizes that Louis isn’t going to get up to look for them. Liam nods and the other boy wanders towards the back of the store to sift through the CDs.

“Hey, when did Harry say we should meet up at his house?” Liam calls to Blondie.

At that, Louis’ ears perk up a bit. Not for any particular reason, he’ll have you know. He’s just curious.

“Around four,” the other boy throws over his shoulder.

Liam sighs loudly. “Niall, that was an hour ago.”

“So?” Niall says, heading back towards where Liam and Louis are. “He can wait an extra hour. We’re the ones picking up his records for fuck’s sake. He can afford to be patient.”

It can’t be the same person, Louis convinces himself. Just a mild coincidence.

“All I’m saying is that it would be nice if you informed me of these things, instead of assuming I’ll remember to ask.”

“You have a phone, s'not like you’re incapable of texting him,” Niall counters.

Liam’s about to reply when he looks over and notices Louis sitting behind the counter. He blushes a bit, embarrassed to be caught in an argument.

“Sorry, mate.”

“Are you talking about Harry Styles?” Louis doesn’t mean to blurt it out so suddenly, but he doesn’t seem to be in control of his mouth.

“Yeah,” Liam says slowly, clearly confused as to why he’s asking.

Louis realizes now that he’s probably waiting for an explanation and he clears his throat. “Right, cause I kind of went on a date with him last night.”

“Louis?” Niall says. Louis nods hesitantly. “Jesus, what did you do?”

“I’m sorry?” Louis looks between the two boys awkwardly.

“He couldn’t shut up about you all yesterday,” Niall groans. “Kept talking about you in the afternoon and you wouldn’t believe his face when he told us you were going out later too.”

“That’s actually true,” Liam confirms. “He practically swooned.”

“Well, that’s... flattering.” Louis’ caught between wanting to hide away forever and needing to find Harry and kiss him senseless. But he’s not a teenage girl. He can control these hormones.

“Don’t let us put you off,” Niall says quickly, as if he can see the bit of panic in Louis’ eyes.

“He’s a really good guy,” Liam insists, as if Louis needs convincing of that.

“Oh no, it’s not that. I believe you. He’s just a bit... eager.” At that, both Liam and Niall crack up.

“Oh, we’re well aware,” Liam smirks.

Just then, Stan returns from the back room with a stack of vinyl records in hand.

“These all of them?” He asks, placing them on the countertop and grabbing a bag to put them in.  
Liam sifts through them and nods. “Yep, all here.”

“Great.” Stan rings them up and bags their music and Louis watches silently, his mind drifting to Harry and what he must have said about him the night before.

As they’re leaving the shop, Niall turns back. “I’ll make sure to tell Harry you say hi!” He winks and then they’re gone, leaving Louis flushed and Stan looking at him curiously.

“You didn’t say you went on a date last night,” he remarks.

“It’s nothing,” Louis groans. He slumps over onto the counter and buries his face in his hands.

“Right, and so is this Harry bloke gushing about you to his friends.”

Louis chucks a pencil at Stan’s head.

\--

The next week passes by rather quickly in Louis’ eyes. It’s summer. The days should be long and endless, but instead they’re flying by. His mum’s somehow roped him into helping out with the wedding some more, so he spends his days calling caterers and dress shops and alteration specialists.

He doesn’t forget about Harry though, if that's even possible with the amount of times Harry texts him. It starts small; one day Louis receives a string of emojis, a baby followed by a man with an equal sign that ends with ‘ _this is you and me .xx’_.

And Louis would groan and delete Harry’s number, but he somehow finds it really fucking endearing, so he indulges this strange boy and texts him back.

Their emoji war eventually segues into real conversation and soon, Harry’s sending him pictures of his sleepy morning face when he’s just woken up at noon and the weird-shaped birthmark on his wrist. Louis ends up complaining to him about his mum and sisters and Harry sends him kissy faces and hearts to show his sympathy.

Lottie ends up being around a lot when Louis is texting Harry and she always ends up stealing his phone at some point or another, so she knows full well that this is turning into something, though not even Louis can tell her what.

Finally on Friday, a week after their first date, Harry texts Louis an invitation.

_Are you free this afternoon? xx_

Louis sees the text right away of course, but he plays it cool and waits three minutes to respond.

**depends on who’s asking ;)**

_cmon louuuuuu i wanna see you :(_

**hmmm …what’re we doing ?**

_It’s a surprise! But come to my house and you’ll seeeeeee!!!! xxxxx_

Louis could hit Harry with how cute he’s being. Harry texts his address a few minutes later and Louis sighs with the realization that he’d probably do just about anything Harry asks of him.

He pulls on some shorts and a thin, cotton t-shirt before he sorts out his hair. It’s dead in the middle of summer now and the days are growing warmer, leaving Louis running around in a near constant sweat. It doesn’t help either that the air conditioner broke and Dan still hasn’t called someone to fix it. Louis’ been spending most nights at Stan’s, so he doesn’t have to suffer listening to the kind of thick silence that one can only associate with sweltering heat.

He stops in the family room to alert Lottie that he’s going out and to tell his mum when she gets home. Lottie doesn’t say anything, but she smirks as she watches him hurriedly put on his shoes and rush out of the door.

-

As it turns out, Harry’s house is a whole heck of a lot nicer than Louis’. It’s just on the outskirts of town, nestled in a small neighborhood. It’s pale blue with a bright red door and Louis thinks that it’s very quaint. As he gets out of his car and starts walking to the door, a girl he belatedly recognizes as Harry’s sister walks out. From what he’s heard, Gemma’s only a few years older than Harry, home from uni where she’s studying something that he can’t pronounce.

“Gemma?” Louis realizes a beat too late that it’s probably weird for him to act like he knows her considering they’ve never met.

“Louis,” she smiles. And okay, it’s not so weird anymore. “Heard a lot about you. My brother’s inside fixing his hair. Funny how when it’s just us he barely wears clothes, but when a cute boy’s coming over, he’ll do just about anything to look presentable.”

“Sounds like he just needs a bit of motivation,” Louis smirks.

Gemma just laughs. “Something like that, I suppose. Listen, I’ve actually got to run, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

Louis finds himself nodding in agreement, watching as she jogs down the drive and to her car. He stands there for a minute, grinning stupidly because “seeing him around” implies that he’ll stick around and he doesn’t find himself cringing away from the idea of spending the rest of his summer with Harry.

When he finally gets around to knocking on the door, he doesn’t have to wait long before Harry pulls it open with gusto and shouts “Louis!”

It’s quite a sight for Louis to take in. Harry’s dressed in an apron, dusted with flour and flecked with small bits of dough. There’s a frosting covered spoon in one hand and he’s reaching for Louis with the other, attempting to pull him in for a one-armed hug.

“What exactly did you invite me over for?” Louis asks hesitantly. Harry grabs his wrist and leads him past a living and dining room before depositing him on a barstool in the kitchen.

“Technically, I invited you here to watch our band practice, but as of right now I’m taking a baking break!” As if to prove it, Harry takes up stirring a bowl full of thick batter.

“You invited me to band practice?” Louis vaguely remembers Harry mentioning to him once that he was in a band, but he’d said it so casually in passing during one of their late night text conversations that he’d almost managed to forget about it. He does remember, as of right now, that the band is both nameless and the only venue they’ve performed in is been Harry’s basement.

“I mean, I dunno, I thought maybe it’d be fun? You don’t have to stay. I understand if it’s boring to you.” Harry’s trying so hard not to look defeated, Louis can tell, but by the way his head is slowly sinking closer towards the bowl of cake batter makes it known that he’s pouting.

“Harry.” Louis waits until Harry’s looking at him and stopped stirring. “I want to stay.”

“Really?” Harry’s face lights back up again, as if he were a string of Christmas lights and Louis held the on-and-off switch. “Because we have a few new covers we’ve been working on and we love feedback!”

Louis smiles and sits back as he listens to Harry talk animatedly about what the band has been working on. Sometime during his story, Liam and Niall walk up from the basement where they’ve been setting up the instruments. They try stealing bits of the dessert that Harry’s slaving over, but he smacks their hand away with the spoon.

Once Harry’s put his cupcakes in the oven, the boys all head down to the basement. Harry pulls Louis back by the arm as he’s trying to go down the stairs.

“Fuck, what,” Louis starts to say, but he’s cut off when Harry pulls him in close for a kiss.

It takes a few seconds for Louis’ brain to catch up with his mouth and he realizes this is their first real kiss, though it feels so natural that it’s hard to believe that they’ve never done this before. Why haven’t they done this before? Harry’s a good kisser. A great kisser. Fantastic even, but Louis is too busy kissing him to come up with more adjectives. He can taste bits of batter and frosting in Harry’s mouth when he licks inside, over his teeth and meshing their tongues together. One of them makes a small noise in the back of his throat and Louis deepens the kiss until he’s got Harry backed up into a wall. With every press of their mouths, Harry makes a soft _nngh_ sound like he can’t get enough. They kiss for a few more seconds before Louis’ pulling away, mouth spit slick and swelling red.

He’s always prided himself in being able to pull himself together after snogging a boy, but he pities Harry who looks like he just got fucked six ways to Sunday. He’s blushing and his hair is matted down on one side, lips swollen and spit-slick.

“More where that came from, yeah?” Louis breathes out. He feels like he’s floating, but he imagines Harry must be flying because he stares with glassy eyes and smiles dopily back at Louis and nods before lacing their fingers and leading them down the stairs.

If Liam and Niall noticed their extended absence, they don’t say anything. Niall’s busy tuning his guitar and Liam’s sitting behind the drums scrolling through his phone.

“You’ve managed to set all this up, but you can’t come up with a name?” Louis remarks skeptically. He gives Harry’s hand one last squeeze before he goes and sits on a couch in the corner of the room.

“Hey, fuck off,” Niall groans. “We’ve been brainstorming for ages, but everything sounds like shit.”

“Niall, your only name idea was The Straight and the Narrow,” Harry quips back at him.

“And you tell me, who ruined that by liking cock?” Louis might choke on his own spit.

“I liked cock way before you came up with that. Don’t blame me for your failure to notice,” Harry huffs. He throws a wink towards Louis as he pulls out a stool from a closet under the stairs and drags it towards the boys.

“Mate, it’d be hard not to notice.” Niall cracks up at his own joke and laughs until his face turns bright red and Liam throws a grape at his head to get him to shut up.

“Lads. It’s time to practice. Let’s run through Wonderwall.” Liam gives them both the evil eye before they comply and burst out into their rendition of the song.

Okay, Louis’ never heard Liam play drums. He’s also never seen Niall play guitar. And it’s great, really. They’re both very talented for their age.

But Harry. More than that, Harry’s voice. It’s low and rough and gravelly and everything that Harry isn’t normally. Where he’s usually sweet and innocent and goofy, he’s so much more when he’s singing. He transforms into someone serious and soulful. With each chorus, he bursts into it with endless energy, back arching into the words and voice fluidly carrying into each verse.

They practice three or four different covers before Niall is distracted by the smell wafting from the kitchen. They make their way upstairs and the boys sit in the living room playing fifa while Harry frosts the cupcakes. When he’s done, Harry puts together a container of his creation for Liam and Niall to take with them.

“Mum’s expecting me home in a half hour, so I’ll see you guys later, yeah?” Liam stands and slips on his shoes.

“He’s my ride, so I’m leaving too.” Niall rolls off the couch and grabs another cupcake, hastily stuffing it in his mouth. The two boys start heading towards the door when Liam pokes his head back into the living room where Harry and Louis wave goodbye from the couch.

“Stay safe kids,” he winks, and then they’re gone.

Louis shifts in his seat – not in discomfort, but in anticipation.

“So you liked today?” Harry asks suddenly. “It wasn’t, like, boring or anything?”

“Harry,” Louis draws out. “Your fucking voice. It’s like, you guys could be a proper band.”

“Well, we’ve been wanting to book some gigs, but Liam thinks we’re lacking something. He thinks we need backup vocals.” Harry wrings his hands in his lap. They’re brushing dangerously near the crotch of his pants and Louis tries not to drool.

“Well, either way you could definitely go somewhere. You just have to put your name out there.”

Harry blushes then, “So what, you’ll only like me if I’m a rockstar?”

Louis scoffs and shoves Harry’s shoulder playfully with his own. “Duh. Didn’t you know I was only after you for your money?”

“I would hope not,” Harry giggles. And fuck, the way Harry doesn’t even have the pluck to come up with his own retort, just sticks to being honest, makes Louis’ toes curl. Throwing his better judgment out the window, he moves quickly to straddle Harry on the couch, sliding his hands up into the younger boy’s curls.

“This okay?” Harry wipes the look of surprise off his face, giving a quick nod and Louis bends down and takes his lower lip between his teeth, suckling gently.

Harry whines and immediately arches into Louis’ touch. His hands come up to splay across Louis’ back, fingers twitching as Louis uses his tongue to deepen the kiss. He swipes his tongue over the ridges of Harry’s teeth and skirts the roof of his mouth before he slips down to the sensitive skin of Harry’s neck.

“Like kissing you, Lou,” Harry gasps. He tries to cants his hips up subtly, but Louis notices and grinds down to meet him halfway. The friction between two layers of denim is fucking amazing; Louis huffs out labored breaths as he humps down on Harry’s leg.

It’s hot and dirty and quick, but they rut against one another with beautiful desperation. They’re both so focused on what’s happening to their lower halves that they end up not kissing, but mouthing at each other, exchanging hot puffs of breath. Louis reaches a hand down to palm Harry roughly while he rubs himself off on the younger boy’s thigh.

“Been wanting this so much,” Harry whispers out. His hips are bucking up at their own accord now, eyes practically black and lips raw and red. He looks so fucking angelic and pure for someone so fucked out of their mind.

“Thinking about it a lot, huh?” Louis’ circling his hips in tight figure eights, so agonizingly close, but he needs something else to push him over the edge. Harry’s fingernails are digging crescents into Louis’ biceps and he focuses in on the pain, lets the feeling overwhelm him.

“Got off the other night thinking of you,” Harry moans. Louis suddenly finds himself imagining squeezing his thighs and teasing him until he sobs. “Thought about how fucking good you looked, what it’d be like to have you inside me – _shit_.”

They fall apart almost simultaneously; Louis’ hips stutter and Harry stiffens up and shakes through his orgasm, hands tightening their grip on Louis’ biceps like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded. He makes these little whining grunts, teeth worrying over his bottom lip.

“Fuck Harry,” Louis sighs in defeat. He lets his body slump forward and rests his head in the crook of Harry’s neck. They sit quietly for a minute, coming down from their highs.

Harry runs his fingers absently across Louis’ back. “Now I’m messy,” he complains.

“Well come on then, you big baby, let’s get you changed.” Louis lifts himself off the couch, cringing at the stickiness of his pants. He follows Harry down the hall to his room where they both change their pants before collapsing on his bed.

Harry insists on making himself physically smaller, so he curls up into a ball and rests his head on Louis’ chest. He’s pliant and sleepy and warm, perfect for Louis. They lay there for an hour or so, Harry napping and Louis staring up at the ceiling fan that’s circling overhead.

Eventually, the sky grows dark and Louis knows Harry’s family will probably be arriving home soon, so he shakes Harry awake long enough to give him a sleepy, lingering kiss goodbye before heading home.

\--

“Daisy, please pick up your dolls,” Louis commands. He stamps his foot for extra emphasis.

“No,” she pouts angrily. She crosses her arms and looks away, as if not looking at her problems will make them all go away.

It’s Wednesday, and that means both Dan and Louis’ mum are working. Thus, it’s Louis’ job to watch his sisters all day. Lottie is easy, she holes up in her room for most of the day. Fizzy’s been content to watch a marathon of movies on Netflix , so long as she has an endless supply of Oreos by her side. Even Phoebe, who’s usually a menace, is playing happily with her coloring books and crayons. For one reason or another, Daisy’s been rude since she woke up, stubborn and unwilling to do anything Louis asks of her.

“Come on, Dais, you know mum won’t be happy when she hears you’ve been in a strop all day,” Louis squats down to her level, places a warm hand on her back to calm her down. She huffs and turns a half-inch towards him.

“What’s got you all upset?” He asks soothingly, rubbing slow circles on her back.

Daisy’s frown melts into a pout and she moves until she’s wrapped up in Louis’ arms. “I don’t want mummy and Dan to get married,” she whispers.

Louis’ almost tempted to say me too, but he knows Daisy wouldn’t find the humor in that, so he has to settle for being the wiser, older brother.

“Well, it’s not really up to us to decide that, love. Plus, you know Dan loves you very much, and he’s been nothing but nice to you right?” Louis has to grit this out between clenched teeth, knows that he’s telling the truth, but it doesn’t change the fact that he hates Dan himself.

“I suppose,” she grumbles quietly. Louis feels a sharb stab of sympathy run through his veins.

He complains about Dan a lot, but he knows he’s not the one who’s going to have to deal with him for the next however many years. He’s moving away in a handful of weeks; the girls will be stuck in the house for much longer. It’s his job to make sure they know that they’re being left in good hands, considering he’s been the only man in the house for most of their lives.

“Listen, let’s have you pick up your dolls and I’ll get us some ice cream. We’ll all watch a movie, sound good?” Daisy nods slowly and Louis places her down before hopping up to gather the rest of the girls.

He rounds them all up and shepherds them into their mum’s bedroom (she has the biggest bed) and puts in a movie for them to watch. It’s some kid movie that Louis doesn’t know the name of and the plot is irrelevant but he gets to spend two hours cuddled up with his sisters eating ice cream and he figures it can’t be all that bad.

After the movie ends, Louis leaves his sisters to watch cartoons while he goes downstairs to clean up their messes. He knows his mum hates coming home from a long day of work only to have to clean up after the girls, so he occasionally tries to do what he can.

He’s in the middle of sorting through doll clothes when there’s a knock on the door.

Louis opens the door to reveal one Stan. “Mate?”

“Don’t _mate_ me, I’m your best friend.” Stan ducks under Louis’ arm and walks into the hall. He toes off his shoes and drops his keys on the table.

“Okay,” Louis says slowly. “Best friend then?”

He follows Stan curiously into the living room where he perches himself on one end of the couch. It’s not unlike Stan to come to the house randomly for a chat, he’s practically family, but he doesn’t usually act like a complete weirdo.

Stan raises his eyebrows. “So. Who’s Harry Styles?”

Louis flounders, then, “Excuse me?”

“That bloke you’re hanging out with lately? The one you talked about at the shop?”

“Aw, is Stanley jealous? How’d you know so much about him anyway?” Louis tries to keep his blushing to a minimum. He’s absolutely not a teenage girl.

“Lottie was telling me about him. Says you’ve hung out a couple of times?”

“Lottie?” Louis asks skeptically. “Since when are you talking to my sister?”

“I came by the other day to see if you were 'round. Lottie answered the door and told me you were with some him. Have you shagged yet?”

“Stan, as a respectable gentleman, I don’t kiss and tell. And anyways, it’s nothing serious. We’re just messing around, having some fun.” Louis brushes it off with a wave of his hand and goes back to picking toys up off the floor.

“Alright, sure.” There’s heavy skepticism in Stan’s voice but Louis refuses to give in and call him out on it. “When do I get to meet him though?”

“Excuse me?” Louis’ phone buzzes in his pocket and he has a good feeling he knows who it’s from but he pointedly ignores it in favor of turning back to Stan. “Whoever said anything about you two meeting?”

“Well I only assumed you’d be keeping him around for a while if you haven’t even fucked yet.” Louis curses the fact that Stan is too intuitive.

“If the goal of this conversation is segue into a discussion of my sex life, you might want to sit down and take a load off,” Louis gripes back. He hates when people try to pry too much, wiggle their way too close. Louis knows that Stan knows this; he’s just trying to press his buttons.

“Actually, the intent of our conversations is to stay as far away from your sex life as possible.” Stan cringes but he sits down nonetheless and watches as Louis puts the room back in order. “Forgive me for wondering who’s been turning you into a big softie.”

Louis scoffs, but makes no effort to deny it. It seems he’s realized that Louis will not be an open book, especially when it pertains to Harry. That said, they talk for a little longer about nothing of consequence before Stan has to head out for his shift at the shop and Louis goes to make sure his sisters haven’t absolutely wrecked his mum’s room.

\--

_I wanna take you out again .xx_

Louis’ still floating down from his post-orgasm high, come drying on his belly as he waits for his breathing to slow. He woke up to an empty house and took advantage of the opportunity by watching porn without his headphones. He’s a rebel.

He reads over Harry’s text once more (no one will have to know that he received it just as he was about to come, the thought of Harry’s voice whispering the words in his ear being what pushed him over the edge) before he types out a quick reply.

**time and place and i might be in :)**

While he waits for Harry to text back, Louis cleans himself off and reopens the door to his bedroom, relishing in the way it’s so quiet. With so many people always bustling in and out of the house, even five minutes of silence is always welcomed.

Behind him, Louis phone buzzes and he flops back onto his mattress to open Harry’s reply.

_This Wednesday, I’ll pick you up at nine? :D_

**oh so you’re offering me a ride ? can’t say no to that can i ;)**

_Get your mind out of the gutter and just say you’ll come pleaseeee_

**fine fine ill be there xx**

Louis waits until Harry’s texted back with approximately a million happy emoji faces before locking his phone and rolling downstairs. He’s just deciding to make himself some eggs when the door bursts open and presents him with his mum and sisters, all holding large dress bags.

“Oh no,” Louis groans. One by one, the girls come into the kitchen where they drape their dresses over the table and squeal with delight as they open the bags to reveal bright flashes of pink and frills.

“Louis, darling!” His mum comes in and kisses his forehead. “What do you think?”

Louis takes a minute to deliberate, eyeing the girls as they fawn over their dresses. “They’re… bright,” he finishes lamely. Let it be known Louis Tomlinson is no good for handing out compliments.

He’s not surprised when five sets of eyes turn on him, glaring.

“I bet they’re prettier than whatever you’ll be wearing,” Lottie smirks. “Boys have to wear plain old suits.”

“Really a tragedy.” Louis feigns wiping a tear off his face before continuing to rummage in the kitchen.

“That said,” Jay remarks, moving through the kitchen to cabinet where she grabs a glass. “Who are you taking as your plus one?”

The tone of her voice indicates that she knows the answer before Louis’ said anything. And it’s not like Louis didn’t see this coming. He had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before his mum caught on to his frequent texting and phone calls to a certain boy. It never helps either when Lottie openly teases him about it to everyone in the house. Up until this point, his mum had seemed to politely ignore whatever it was she thought was going on with Louis.

“That hadn’t actually crossed my mind,” Louis throws out casually. He pours his cereal into a bowl and busies himself with stuffing the bag back into its box.

“Well you’ll have to decide soon so I can add him to the guest list. What about that boy you’re talking to?” Jay gives him a knowing look as she passes by him to the fridge. “Henry?”

“Mum.”

Jay raises her hands in defense. “You’re the one who never likes to talk about him, how am I supposed to remember his name?”

“If you mean Harry, yes I was planning on asking him to come.” Louis ignores Lottie waggling her eyebrows. “All in good time though, the wedding is still ages away.”

“The wedding is in five weeks, I’d hardly say that’s ages, love.”

“Five weeks, you don’t say.” Louis tries not to sound so bitter but he winces when Jay’s expression darkens. He’s never outright said that he didn’t want her to get married again, but he’s always had a feeling that she knew. She definitely knows how cautious he is about any new man that comes into his mum’s life, after Mark so tastefully ruined theirs before he left without a goodbye.

“We’ll be one big, happy family in no time,” she says, chin held high. It’s her way of saying get over yourself and Louis knows not to cross her. No matter what reservations he may have, his mum seems awfully sure about Dan. Louis forces himself to nod and present her with some sort of smile, reminding himself that it’s only a matter of time before he can flee.

It’s a terrible thought, but it makes him feel a bit better. He realizes that he’s not only going to have to say goodbye to Dan when he leaves for uni – which he’ll do extremely willingly – but the girls as well. His mum and his sisters have always been there; he’s gotten to see his sisters grow right alongside himself. Of course there will always be holidays to come home and visit but he knows it won’t be the same once he’s gone. Dan and his mum and his sisters will all continue on with their lives and Louis will be just like any other relative that they clear space for when he stops by every couple of months.

There’s no real solution that can calm the thoughts in his head, but for now he shakes it off and pastes on a genuine smile for the girls as he indulges them by cooing over their dresses and pressing soft kisses to their foreheads.

\--

It isn’t until 8:45 on Wednesday, when Louis is hanging upside down off his bed listening to some mix one of his old boyfriends had made him two summers ago that he realizes he’s supposed to be going to a party with Harry tonight.

“Oh shit, bollocks –” he practically falls out of bed and races to the bathroom. He takes a quick shower, simultaneously scrubbing his body and washing his hair before hopping out and throwing on the first pair of skinnies he can find and a cream knit jumper. He doesn’t know how casual this get-together is going to be, but he assumes Harry’s hipster friends will be wearing clothes with several dozen holes and patches, so he figures whatever he chooses will already be loads better.

He’s just rubbing his hair dry when he hears a knock on the door. One look out his bedroom window confirms it is Harry, here to pick him up. He’s getting out of his car and walking down the drive towards the front door and -

“No,” Louis cries. He can not have Harry meeting his family, especially when he’s not there to make sure they won’t embarrass him.

Quickly, Louis sprints down the stairs and into the family room where he can hear a cluster of voices. As he rounds the corner he can see his mum sat in the arm chair, smiling as she watches the girls play with Harry.

And wait, what?

Harry’s positioned on the floor, leaning against the sofa as Daisy and Phoebe take turns braiding parts of his hair.

“Louis!” Harry grins up at him. “I met your family!”

“I can see that,” Louis replies wearily, leaning against the wall. He catches his mum’s eye and she winks at him.

“Harry’s an absolute gentleman,” she smiles serenely. “Why hasn’t he been over sooner?”

“Guess I just never got around to inviting him,” Louis says dumbly. Presently he watches as Daisy put Harry’s hair in two pigtails, tying them off with an elastic. Christ.

“That’s a sorry excuse,” Jay scoffs. She turns to Harry. “We’d love to have you over for dinner sometime.”

“I’d love that,” Harry exclaims, scrambling to his feet and wiping the dust off his jeans. “Especially if that means I get to play with you two again!”

Daisy and Phoebe shriek with laughter when Harry leans down to tickle them. Louis fights to roll his eyes because wow, they never do that with him.

“So this is the secret admirer, huh?” Louis jumps when he hears Lottie behind him.

“Approve do you?” They stare as Phoebe places one of her flower crowns atop Harry’s head. He giggles – fucking giggles ¬– when she shows him his reflection in a mirror.

“Only better alternative would be if he was straight,” Lottie stares dreamily at Harry.

“Oi,” Louis covers his ears. “I don’t need to know my sister likes boys. When did they stop having cooties?”

“Since they started looking like Harry,” she replies cheekily. Louis reaches out to ruffle her hair but she dips under his arm and skips into the living room, promptly sticking out her hand to introduce herself to Harry.

They spend the next fifteen minutes chatting – well, Harry and his mum and sisters chat while Louis watches on nervously – until Louis has to literally drag Harry out the door, claiming they’ll be late to the party.

They drive in comfortable silence, music floating softly out of the speakers. Louis breaks the quiet only once to ask if Harry’s going to take out the pigtails and flower crown before they arrive at the party.

“But the girls worked hard on it,” he argues, lower lip jutted out. Louis resists the urge to climb over the center console and kiss him silly.

He manages to wait about five more minutes until once they’ve arrived and parked, where Louis does just that, straddling Harry and snogging him until he’s banging a weak fist against the window of the car.

“Too noisy,” Louis tuts. Harry leans forward for another peck but Louis slides off, opening to the door on his side. “Who’s house did you say this was?”

It’s no small house like you’d find in the village. It’s big. And expensive. Harry has good taste in friends.

“Ed’s,” Harry replies. “One of my best mates.”

As they walk inside, Harry guiding Louis with a hand on the small of his back, Louis is surprised that there aren’t too many people here. He recognizes Cara and Alexa from school, though they’re in the year below him. Niall and Liam are there too, both cradling a beer and chatting with a handful of unfamiliar faces.

“That’s Ed, Nick, Aiden, Michael, Cara, Luke, Ashton, Alexa, Cara, Calum, and Josh. Danielle and Perrie were supposed to come but Dani gave Pezza the flu.” Harry points to each of them individually before taking Louis over and properly introducing him.

They’re all really nice people; Louis finds that he’s sad he hadn’t made an effort to talk to any of them before this summer. He’s sure that at some point he’s seen all of these faces around school at one point or another and regrets the fact that he spent most of his years in college hanging out with awful pricks, with the exception of Stan.

Ed suggests everyone mingle in the backyard where there’s a few soft couches sitting on the freshly trimmed lawn across from the pool that reflects it’s murky water onto every other surface. The porch lights help cast a blue shadow on the trees whose canopies hang low to the ground, illuminating everyone’s face in a dull, muted glow.

Louis hangs close to Harry’s side, keeping a pinky tucked into his tight back pocket at all times. They cradle their beers as they float from group to group; Louis watches as Harry makes polite conversation with Michael, who also happens to be in a band. He admires the way Harry so effortlessly expresses complete interest in anything anyone else has to say to him.

After a while, Louis extracts himself from Harry and heads over to a circle of chairs where Liam and Niall are laughing with Ed and Cara. He finds that he’s happy to just sit and listen to the soft conversations that float through the quiet night.

As the night wears on and everyone gets collectively drunker, they all head back inside where it’s warmer. Mingling in small pairs eventually turns into one big group conversation, everyone having settled onto the couches and armchairs and pillows on the floor in some kind of circle.

“So, do you have your stuff?” Harry stage whispers to Ed. It earns a laugh from the circle of people they’re surrounded by and Louis smiles fondly, settling in closer to Harry’s side (if he intentionally lets their thighs touch and forgets to move away, no one has to know).

“Always the best for you, H.” Ed heaves himself up off the floor with a great sigh before he heads down the hall. He returns moments later with a small baggie and a lighter.

“You smoke?” Louis asks incredulously. He’s always pegged Harry as more of a momma’s boy type – and he means that in the nicest way, of course – but he would never pass up the opportunity to see those beautiful lips wrap around the end of a joint.

“Only sometimes,” Harry replies distractedly, watching as Ed finished rolling up the joint and bringing it to his lips to light.

A quiet cheer erupts from the circle as he takes a hit and starts passing it around. Since Harry is directly to his right, he gets it first. Louis watches, not caring that his mouth is gaping, as Harry inhales the smoke lazily like he’s done it a dozen times. He holds it in for a few seconds before exhaling, watching as the cloudy haze drifts from his mouth and evaporates into the room.

Clearing his throat, “You gonna share that anytime soon?”

Harry turns his head slowly to grin at Louis. “Only if you give me a kiss in return.”

And Louis is sure the entire room is staring, watching the two of them as they flirt, but he couldn’t care less as he plucks the joint from Harry’s fingers, takes a big hit, and locks their lips together.

Harry startles at first, obviously taken by surprise, but he quickly breathes in the smoke from Louis’ mouth and lets it hover in the space between their teeth and tongues. They hold it for a few more seconds before breaking apart, cheeks flushed and pupils blown.

“I’ll take that, thank you very much,” Niall grumbles, taking the joint out of Louis’ hands.

It continues like that, them passing around the joint until everyone’s had a hit. Ed rolls another and by the time they’ve finished three collectively, Louis’ fallen so deep into the land of grey edges and blurred vision that he doesn’t notice Harry’s been mouthing at his neck until Niall nudges Louis’ shoulder and sends a pointed stare at him. Gently, Louis pries Harry back by the hair and an idea sparks in his mind.

“C’mon,” he says. His voice is rough with smoke and slow like honey. He helps Harry to his feet and tugs him down the hall, ignoring the catcalls they get from the circle.

He leads them confidently up a flight of stairs and only has to try three doors before he finds a bathroom.

“A little desperate are we?” Louis makes sure the door is locked before turning back around to face Harry.

“Wanna blow you so bad.” Harry backs Louis up until his spine hits the edge of the sink. “Please let me.”

As if you even had to ask, Louis wants to say. But instead he settles for nodding and helping Harry as he undoes the buttons on his jeans.

“A little eager, are we?” Louis asks, huffing out a laugh as Harry shoves his jeans down to his thighs.

“Weed makes me horny,” he whines like he can’t help it. Louis could honestly come all over his face just for that, but he fights off the strong wave of arousal.

If there’s one thing that Louis likes, it’s getting a blowjob. Blowjobs are fun. They’re quick and hot and the warm wetness of someone’s mouth on his dick is never something he’d pass up. But Harry takes it to a whole new level. Of fucking course Harry is the blowjob king.

Really, it all goes downhill quite quickly when he literally drops to his knees in front of Louis, staring up at him through his gorgeous lashes. He licks the perimeter of his tongue absently as he pulls down Louis’ pants and stares at the throbbing cock in front of him.

“Please,” he whispers, and Louis wants to shout you never need permission to suck my dick, but he can’t find the words. If Harry’s in to begging, then he’s right on board with that. Quite frankly, he’s in to anything Harry is as long as it ends like this.

He watches as Harry takes Louis’ cock in his hand, a fascinated look on his face as he experimentally swipes his thumb over the slit. Louis hisses and Harry glances up to make sure he’s enjoying it. He strokes down the shaft a few times before finally enveloping Louis in his mouth, tongue circling the tip to slick it up. Teasing.

“Take it already,” Louis growls without thinking. He grips the short hairs at the base of Harry’s neck and pushes him down so that one moment he’s admiring the soft light against Harry’s skin and the next he’s holding back a string of curses as he feels Harry choke around him, muscles in his throat fluttering. He goes to pull back immediately, ready to apologize for being so rough with Harry, but when he looks down he sees Harry’s eyes flutter and roll to the back of his head as one hand reaches down to palm at his own growing bulge. Fuck.

And if Louis thought that Harry’s mouth looked brilliant in any normal circumstance, it looks absolutely obscene here, stretched around the girth of Louis’ cock, spit glistening at the edges. Cheeks hollowed, Harry looks like some kind of ethereal, blowjob-giving angel.

“Fucking – harder, _more Harry_ ,” the words keep falling from Louis’ lips and he almost loses it when Harry starts whining around his cock. Like he loves it. Like this is where he belongs, always. Harry’s started rocking down onto his hand, chasing the feeling and that just about makes Louis pass out with arousal.

“Yeah, yeah, just like that, _fuck_ ,” Louis moans as Harry bobs his head quicker. Sure that Harry’s into this now, Louis reaches down and grabs a few tufts of hair and yanks him forward, deeper onto his cock. He thinks this time he’s gone a bit too far before he hears Harry keen high in his throat and nod like it’s all he’s wanted this whole time.

“Like that?” Louis pulls harder and Harry sobs a bit. He’s suckling on the head of Louis’ shaft now, hand rubbing fast against his cock still stuffed in his pants. His free hand is sliding along the length that he hasn’t managed to fit in his mouth, wrist twisting at just the right angle on the upstroke. He hasn’t stopped staring at Louis’ face the whole time, like he wants to make sure it’s good for him, that he’s being good for him.

“Got me so hard baby – fuck, _right there_ – gonna come. Such a pretty boy making me come.” The words slip out before Louis has a chance to filter himself and fuck, where did that even come from? He’s just embarrassing himself tonight, the combination of Harry’s mouth and excellent weed he supposes. Thankfully, Harry seems to appreciate it. Every time Louis speaks, his hand, which has now slipped inside his jeans, moves faster.

Harry uses the flat of his tongue to lick long stripes up the underside of Louis’ before he suckles at the head again, using his huge hand to stroke the base and fondle his balls. He tongues at the slit for a moment, lapping up precome, eyes fluttering closed like he’s the one being pleasured.

“Harry, ‘m so close, shit, you better –” and Louis will defend himself by saying he did give a fair warning, but he’s cut off when he comes, hard. Harry - the champ he is - doesn’t skip a beat, just sucks it down and swallows politely before nuzzling his face into Louis’ thigh like he still can’t get enough. He practically purrs.

“Alright there kitten, slow down,” Louis laughs breathlessly as he tugs Harry up until he’s standing. He’s still hard in his insanely tight jeans and Louis has no idea how his cock is even functioning when it’s confined like that.

“Can I – just lemme,” Harry cuts off as he moves to straddle one of Louis’ thighs and begins to hump against it. His thrusts are immediately erratic and Louis knows he isn’t far off, must’ve gotten himself worked up while he was still on his knees. He’s moaning like a pornstar too, loud and long and Louis has to practically shove a hand over his mouth so he quiets down.

“There are people right outside this door that might hear you,” Louis hisses as a warning, figuring it’ll encourage Harry to shut up, but Harry locks up right then, muscles tensing and thighs quivering as he shoots into his pants. Louis’ cock gives a feeble twitch of interest as he takes in Harry’s scrunched eyes and swollen mouth. He stutters out a few more thrusts before he goes limp and rests his head on Louis’ shoulder in defeat.

“You’re fucking me,” Louis says aloud in wonder. “I’ve got an exhibitionist on my hands. Anything else you like, Styles?”

Harry burrows himself closer into Louis’ collarbones before whispering, “dirty talk.”

“Kinky.” Of course, Louis has already tucked and stored away these important pieces of information. He’s sure that in the near future, when he and Harry are in a more private setting, he’ll test these theories out.

 

\--

The next weekend Louis is working a shift at the shop with Zayn. It’s going well, considering Zayn is wearing a leather jacket and combat boots and Louis has managed to refrain from combusting. Well, so far. It was a close call when Zayn lifted both hands above his head to stretch and his shirt rode up to reveal an inch of soft skin and the black swirling ink of two tattoos.

“Zayn, if I have to sit through one more hour – nay, one more minute – of Chris Brown I will use the speaker chords to hang myself from the ceiling and I will blame it all on you.” Zayn shoots him an angelic smile from where he’s organizing CDs on the display rack, all pearly teeth and plump lips. Louis forgets why he’s mad and smiles back.

“No fair,” Louis mutters. He’s pacing around the shop, weaving up and down the aisles and turning all of Justin Bieber’s albums face down. No one has come into the shop all day, probably due to the sheer amount of rain that’s falling outside. It’s a wonder that shops in England can even stay in business when there’s so many days of bad weather that prevent people from venturing outside.

Louis hears the faint click of Zayn putting in a new CD before he hears the soft sounds of Justin Timberlake float through the speakers hung in the far right corner of the store. It’s only a small step up from Chris Brown but Louis will take it.

“’Cause it’s like you’re my mirror,” Zayn sings along absently as he resumes working. Louis pauses to lean against the metal shelving to listen to him. He might be no good for appreciating the music when it plays on an endless loop in the background of his day but he can surely be grateful when Zayn sings.

Zayn really has a lovely voice, smooth and velvety with soft undertones of grit and emotion. He’s not even singing properly, just humming notes every so often but it still sounds exceptionally – “amazing!” – and wait, what? Louis slides around the corner of the shelf to peek at the front entrance and sees, “Harry?”

“You’re amazing mate!” Harry bustles inside, flanked by Liam and Niall, and presents a hand to Zayn, who’s currently trying to curl into himself with embarrassment.

“Erm, hey,” he says meekly, shoving out a hand to Harry who shakes it eagerly.

“Where’d you learn to sing like that?” Harry sounds like a five year old, hearts in his eyes and sugary sweet smile plastered on his face.

Zayn is clearly ready to run from this stranger who’s barged in to compliment him with the vigor of a small child. Louis hastily steps in to save him. Yes, he’s a hero, and yes, applause is welcome.

“Zayn, this is Harry, and Harry, this is Zayn.” There. Louis has done his good deed for the week. Zayn looks slightly less terrified as recognition sparks in his eyes. Louis might have talked about Harry once or twice.

“Uh, nowhere? I just like to sing for fun.” Zayn’s doing that thing he does when he’s shy where his hands disappear into his jacket sleeves. Louis takes it upon himself once again to intervene.

“Zayn’s a real artist, he learns from the elements.” Upon receiving blank stares for his efforts, Louis sighs. “You know, like wind and water. Deep shit like that.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and nudges Louis’ calf with his foot. “Really though, I haven’t taken lessons or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s true talent,” Harry gushes. “Are you looking to sing, like, professionally? The reason I’m asking is because me and the lads here are in band and we’re looking for a back-up singer? If you’re interested?”

“We’d love to have you! We don’t have many gigs coming up but it’s no harm snagging you now while we have the time to practice.” Liam claps his hands together excitedly. Niall grunts an affirmation at the front desk where he’s reaching into a bowl filled with lollipops.

Zayns’ eyes start to widen and Louis knows this was not the right way to approach him. Zayn is like a baby deer, easily startled and likely to run. He’s also like a fine wine in the sense that he only gets better with age. But Louis is missing the point here.

“What he’s saying, Zayney-bear, is that he’d love for you to consider his proposal. Perhaps you come to a band practice and see how it goes? You don’t have to make any promises right now.”

“Exactly what I meant! I’m not trying to pressure you into anything, mate. You’re just really good!” When Zayn’s not looking, Louis mouths _baby deer_ to Harry. His brows furrow in confusion. Clearly they’re not on the same page.

“Uh, yeah. I mean, I guess that would be okay.” Zayn keeps looking to Louis for approval.

“Great man, this is ace. I’ll have Lou text you the next time we’re practicing and both of you can swing by! Louis is like our little groupie.” Harry smiles fondly over at him.

“Excuse me, let it be known that I am not sleeping with any members of the band. I’m a groupie purely in the sense that I fully and completely support the band. It’s innocent really.”

Apparently it’s more obvious than Louis thought that he and Harry are hooking up because all three boys raise an eyebrow at him and scoff.

“If we’re all done mocking me, I believe I have something for Harry. If you’d just follow me this way,” Louis chirps out, flipping off the three boys and grabbing Harry’s hand, leading him to the back of the store behind many, many shelves.

“A present? Is it that album I was telling you I wanted – mmf.” Harry’s cut off when Louis decides he needs to be shut up with a violent kiss. Harry’s body goes limp in his hands and Louis nudges him backwards until he’s against the wall.

Harry flicks his tongue out weakly but for the most part lets Louis control the kiss and lick into his mouth, clanking their teeth together. It’s wet and sloppy and promising as Louis slides a thigh in between Harry’s and nudges upwards experimentally.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, Louis,” Harry mumbles. “Not here.”

Louis isn’t having it though, and keeps circling his hips in small motions against Harry’s (really, it’s an issue. All Louis’ thought about since the night of Ed’s party is the way Harry got off on the idea that someone could walk in on them). Harry squirms against the constant pressure but Louis keeps a tight enough grip around his waist that he doesn’t have much leverage. Really, Harry probably wouldn’t put up much of a fight anyway, Louis knows. He’s easy to persuade.

“Think, if I got you off right now, Niall, Liam, Zayn, they wouldn’t even know. Just think you’d come back here with me for a little snog.” Louis works his way down Harry’s jaw with small kisses until he settles for latching onto the skin of his neck and sucking hard.

“Shit,” Harry whimpers. He doesn’t say much afterward, just holds on to Louis’ shoulders with a tight grip and whines quietly into his neck. Louis can tell he’s achingly hard already in his tight jeans, knows that he must be desperate for it. It gives Louis a sense of pride that he can rile Harry up this fast.

He’s about to reach down to use a palm to help Harry along – they don’t have all day, honestly – when he hears Niall’s laugh carry around from two shelves over. Quickly, he shoves himself off of Harry and attempts to straighten both their clothes before they’re caught in the act.

“Oi, Harry are you – oh, god, were you just –”

“No, Niall, and to be quite honest, I’m offended you would think that. Just a bit of innocent kissing is all.” Louis huffs indignantly and gives Harry a smack on the bum to urge him forward. Harry just looks at him dazedly, mouth swollen and dick still embarrassingly hard between his legs. “Go on.”

“I –” Harry looks between Louis and Niall before slowly waddling forward, looking back once at Louis to find him smirking.

As soon as they round the corner, Louis takes a minute to straighten himself out before he follows them. Liam is in a deep conversation with Zayn over Lady Gaga or Kesha being the better performer. They look up as Niall and Harry approach, and the two of them burst into laughter at the sight of Harry.

“Hey now,” Louis argues, rushing forward to sling an arm around Harry’s waist. “Just because he gets a little too excited over kissing someone doesn’t mean we should laugh. He’s just a baby, you know.”

Harry leans in and hums appreciatively as Louis cards a few fingers through his hair.

After that, Liam and Niall hang around a bit longer to look over some new releases while Harry follows Louis around like a puppy as he finishes reorganizing the shelves, hooking his chin over Louis’ shoulder when he pauses to flip an album face up or fix the alphabetical order.

They leave after Niall buys a few CDs, one of them being a collection of nursery rhyme sing-a-longs (“I fucking told ya’, it’s for my nephew, Jesus”), Harry kissing Louis goodbye and the rest of the boys singing a poorly harmonized version of Blurred Lines out the door.

Louis has dumb friends.

\--

“So what exactly are we doing?”

Harry’s climbing into Louis’ car – quite ungracefully – and leaning over to kiss Louis’ cheek. It’s very domestic, and Louis isn’t sure whether the shiver that runs down is spine is good or bad.

“Well, mum’s wedding is in a few weeks and she’s sent me to do her dirty work. That is, picking up decorations for the rehearsal dinner. Fake flowers, place settings, all that.”

Harry hums thoughtfully as they pull out of his driveway and down the road. He unthinkingly plugs in his phone and plays one of his stupid indie hipster mixes that Louis refuses to admit he kinda-sorta likes.

“I also may have a surprise for you.” Louis attempts to sound casual as he turns out of the neighborhood and onto the main road, checking for cars before he merges.

“A surprise?” That’s enough encouragement for Harry to minimize his game of Temple Run and turn to Louis, giving him his full attention. “Like, a sexual surprise?”

Louis barks out a laugh. “Not this time. I was thinking more along the lines of a gig for the band.” Before Harry can utter a peep of excitement he adds, “The DJ mum was planning on using had some sort of family emergency and had to fly back to Russia for an undetermined amount of time. Bit of a weird story, really. Anyways, she’s been off the walls this week looking for a replacement so I might have suggested your band?”

He chances a glance over at Harry’s face and he’s beaming, his hundred-watt smile stretching from ear to ear as he practically vibrates in his seat.

“You got us a gig?”

“It’s yours if you want it,” Louis shrugs.

“LOUIEEEEE,” Harry shouts, practically throwing himself on Louis’ lap and making him drive off the road. He tries to shake off Harry’s gangly limbs but the boy latches on like a leech.

“I’m so happy I could just – I could just suck your dick right now.” Harry fumbles for a moment before he reaches down to start unbuttoning Louis’ jeans.

“Wha -” Louis tries to protest, but at this point Harry’s already snuck a hand down the front of his pants and is palming him, so he shuts up real fast.

Honestly, this whole affair is going better than expected, Louis thinks, as Harry takes him down his throat. And if Louis has to pull over before he wrecks another car, then let it be known that men stronger than him have fallen for things much less deadly than Harry Styles.

-

Once Louis has managed to tame Harry so that he’s not practically gagging for it, they stop at the crafts store so that Louis can pick up a few dozen bouquets of fake flowers and a few yards of different colored fabrics so his mum can look through them and decide which color she wants for the table settings.

As they walk through the aisle, Louis finds and places items in the cart while Harry crosses said items off a list that Louis managed to scribble down on an old receipt that morning. It’s quite a slow process because every time Harry sees something he likes they have to stop while he admires it.

“Lou look! Tiaras!” Louis sighs and manages not to tackle Harry to the ground and snog him silly.

“And you’d look beautiful babe, but we have to get a move on.” Louis reaches forward and links his pinky with Harry’s, dragging him along. Harry pouts like a five year old and pretends to stomp down the aisle.

The rest of afternoon passes in a similar fashion until Louis promises that if Harry behaves at the grocery store, he’ll cook him dinner. Harry mimes zipping his mouth shut and happily trails behind Louis as he throws ingredients in the cart; Harry keeps asking what Louis’ making, but Louis only boasts that it’s an ancient family recipe meant to be kept a secret.

Conveniently, Dan is working late (again) and Louis’ mum and sisters are out at a friend’s house going over wedding details. Louis has always laughed fondly at how involved in the wedding his sister’s attempt to be, but now he has never been more thankful.

As soon as they arrive Louis ceremoniously dumps all his purchases in his mum’s room, save for the groceries that he and Harry put away in the kitchen. Louis orders Harry to entertain himself in the family room until dinner is ready but when Harry smirks and raises and eyebrow, ready to make some kind of dirty joke, Louis relents and allows him to sit on the counter next to the fridge.

Harry manages to behave relatively well; he plays some music on his phone and sings along quietly (that is, until Mr. Brightside comes on shuffle and Louis almost burns the chicken when he takes a dancing break with Harry, both boys shouting the lyrics at the top of their lungs as they jump around the kitchen in their socked feet) until Louis’ setting the table and Harry can’t control himself and has to ask, “What are you making?”

Louis bends down to open the oven (a perfect opportunity to wiggle his arse and hope Harry’s eyes linger) and huffs before he answers. “Chicken stuffed with mozzarella wrapped in parma ham. Oh, and with a side of homemade mash. It’s a classic really.”

Harry has the decency to look impressed, even as Louis plates the slightly charred chicken and scoops out two helpings of potatoes. He sets the plates on opposite ends of the table and freezes when he feels two arms wind around his waist and Harry’s face nuzzle into his neck.

“Sounds delicious,” he murmurs, pressing a lingering kiss behind Louis’ ear. They stand still for a few moments before Harry pulls back and sits down, Louis following suit.

Dinner is a quiet affair; the conversation flows easily as Harry relays funny stories of his previous school year and about his vision of the future (getting himself and his boys discovered, producing an album, touring the world). Louis nods and laughs in all the right places. He tells Harry about all his embarrassing mess-ups in football games, the time when Stan and him decided it would be a good idea to draw dicks in half-dried cement and ended up getting their hands stuck. Louis bought a small chocolate cake for them to share and by the time they’ve made it to dessert, Harry has migrated into Louis’ lap and they’re feeding each other bits of frosting.

“Hey, you’ve got a bit of – ” Harry points to the corner of Louis’ mouth. Before the older boy has a chance to wipe it off himself, Harry leans forward and licks it away with the flat of his tongue. He doesn’t make to move away, instead leans closer and lets Louis close the distance between their mouths. It’s slow and wonderful, each kiss deep and long lasting and Louis is absolutely certain that Harry’s pillow lips are the best he’s ever felt.

What he finds most endearing are the little, uncontrollable sounds that Harry makes when he’s horny. It’s his telltale sign. Eventually he slings his other leg over Louis’ so that he’s comfortably straddling his lap. Their hips move together in small circles as they continue to kiss. It moves no further until Louis pulls back and rests his forehead against Harry’s.

“Baby,” Louis laughs when Harry tries to chase his mouth. “Talk to me.”

“About what?” Harry seems content to move his lips down to Louis’ collar bones, suckling softly.

“Do – do you like it to hurt? When we do things like this?” It’s the question that’s been on the tip of Louis’ tongue since the first time he yanked on his hair.

Harry doesn’t answer, just burrows himself into Louis’ chest.

“Don’t be embarrassed, okay? I’m into it to.” It’s an honest answer. Louis might not be any kind of expert on kinky sex but he likes that Harry can let himself go whenever they hook up.

Harry slowly lifts his head and nods once, quickly.

“Is there something you want to try? That you’ve been nervous to ask for?” Louis runs his thumb across the tense muscles in Harry’s arms.

Harry gives him a long, strange look. Like he’s in awe or something. But then his expression clouds and he ducks his head to whisper into Louis’ ear.

“Spanking.” His voice shakes a bit, and Louis can tell the way he says it isn’t meant to sound sexy. He’s nervous. Harry Styles is nervous.

“Yeah? Want me to put you over my lap and spank your bum until it’s red and raw? Make it so you can’t sit down without remembering my hand?” If he wasn’t so turned on, Louis would laugh at how Harry literally shivers at his words. He’s nodding frantically, hips shifting from where they’re fit snug against Louis’.

“Please do something,” Harry whispers against Louis’ jaw. With an impressive burst of strength, Louis manages to pick Harry up and carry them up the stairs and to his room. Harry may be long and lanky but he’s as thin as a twig.

Once he’s made sure that the door is safely locked, Louis places Harry on his bed up by the headboard. Harry unconsciously lets his legs fall open and bites his lip.

“Fuck,” Louis whispers. He crawls over to the younger boy and places his hands on both of Harry’s knees. “Will you tell me if I hurt you?”

He knows he should postpone this until he’s done some reading online or talked about it with Harry in depth, but they’re both too hot and eager for it; Louis because he enjoys being in control and Harry because he loves the pain.

“Yes, please, I promise Lou,” Harry makes grabby hands towards Louis until he leans forward and rewards him with a kiss. It’s fleeting, as Louis has to break away to yank off his shirt and those goddam skinny jeans off of Harry’s legs. It breaks the tension of the moment a bit, allows them to laugh off their nervousness before Louis’ ushering Harry onto his back with dark eyes.

Once Harry’s rolled onto his tummy and has his head burrowed into his hands, Louis takes his time to gently stroke over his pale, pert bum. It’s soft and doughy just like the rest of Harry, but it’s skin that hasn’t seen too much sun and it distantly reminds Louis of a peach.

“What are you doing?” Harry wonders aloud and that’s when Louis notices he’s pressing gentle kisses to each of Harry’s cheeks and stroking them with the pads of his fingers.

“Peachy bum,” Louis answers belatedly. It makes no sense, but Harry murmurs his assent as though he understands.

“Do you want to come like this?” Louis’ nerve endings are like live wires, sparking and churning out enough adrenaline that his hands are shaking from where he’s placed them on the tops of Harry’s supple thighs.

“Yeah,” Harry sighs dreamily, like it’s all he’s ever wanted. He wiggles down the bed a bit to get more comfortable and Louis can’t stop staring at his ass.

Louis almost asks incredulously you can? but he knows better than to question Harry anymore. Instead he presses one last kiss to each of the dimples in Harry’s spine before he straightens back up and rubs his hands together to warm them up.

“Uh, yeah. Okay,” Louis says to himself. “Here I go.”

A pause.

“I believe you’re meant to be making me come,” Harry offers. He turns his head until he meets Louis’ eyes. He’s grinning.

“Oh fuck off, it’s my first time doing this too.” They’re both grinning at each other like idiots now, but it makes Louis feel better that Harry understands that he’s just as nervous.

He waits until Harry’s turned back and ducked his head underneath his arm before he finally, finally strikes him with his hand. The result is absolutely incredible.

Harry lets out a guttural moan that Louis hasn’t ever heard him make before, his whole body shivering with the aftershocks. His hips fuck into the sheets a couple of times on instinct.

“’s good, Lou,” Harry whimpers, and Louis knows that’s his way of asking for more. “Harder please.”

“On your hands and knees, love,” Louis commands quietly. Harry takes a second to respond but then he’s quickly hoisting himself up and shoving his bum back towards Louis as an offering. He tries not to choke on air when he sees a flash of Harry’s small, pink hole nestled between his cheeks. To distract himself, Louis dares to make another request by asking Harry if he can count him off, to which he nods.

Smack. “One.”

Smack smack. “Two, thr – three.”

By the time they’re at ten, Harry’s arms have collapsed and his face is smushed into the sheets. There are tiny tear tracks running down the chub of one cheek and Louis proudly thinks, I did that. I made that happen.

“Do you want me to keep going?” Louis removes his hand and places it over his own bulge as he watches the skin of Harry’s bum turn a deep shade of red. He can see a few of his handprints scattered around the doughy skin and his cock twitches in his pants.

“Please Lou, don’t stop,” Harry cries. His voice cracks and Louis can guess he’s close. “Don’t stop, don’t stop, please.”

Spontaneously, Louis grabs Harry roughly by the hips and holds him against his straining jeans, grinding them together. They both moan and Louis keeps it up for a few minutes before he feels himself start leaking in his pants. It’s strange having Harry completely naked in front of him while he’s still fully clothed.

Then he pulls back and brings down a sudden hand on Harry.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he cries out and pushes his bum out farther. “Make me feel so good, Lou. ‘M close.”

“Yeah? Gonna come for me baby?” Louis emphasizes his word with three small, sharp smacks against the crack of Harry’s bum.

Harry lets out a garbled whine and his body tenses up for a few seconds before he falls down onto the mattress and comes into the sheets. His hands have fisted themselves deep into the sheets and his eyes have shut. Beautiful, Louis thinks. Mine.

Harry’s eyes shoot open as if he’s heard Louis. “Want you to come too, Lou. Do anything, please.”

Louis’ eyes widen and he shakes himself out of his clouded mind. He hurriedly shucks his jeans and underwear before reaching over to his bedside table and grabbing the bottle of lube stashed in the second drawer.

“Is this okay?” He asks, though he is well aware Harry probably doesn’t know what he’s planning on doing. The younger boy, bless him, just nods his head and smiles, still sated from his orgasm.

Louis lubes himself up and positions himself over Harry. Gently, he pushes himself between Harry’s thick thighs and somehow Harry just knows to cross his ankles so that he now has Louis’ cock in a vice grip, closely resembling what he would guess Harry’s hole would feel like if he were splitting that open instead.

“Oh fuck, _shit,_ Harry,” Louis whimpers as he starts to tentatively thrust in and out. It’s tight and warm and slick and if Louis’ closes his eyes he imagines he’s inside Harry, that rather than spanking him he’s spent all this time opening him up with his fingers just to be rewarded with this wet heat.

“Yeah, c’mon,” Harry urges him. He’s turned his head round so that he can see how Louis’ hips rabbit into his thighs, chasing his own release. “Fuck me real good, Lou. Love your cock.”

“ _Mm_ , fuck Haz.” Louis balances himself with a hand on Harry’s upper back and one wrapped around the sharp bone of his hip.

“Always want your cock, your fingers. Want you in me all the time –” Harry gets drowned out by the sound of Louis’ coming, practically screaming as he shoots his load between Harry’s thighs. He pulls out just long enough so that some of his come lands on Harry’s bum and it’s all too easy to imagine that it’s spilling out of his hole.

Louis collapses on top of Harry and rolls so that they’re laying side by side, noses almost touching. Harry grins lazily at him and Louis uses his thumb to wipe up the bit of come on Harry’s thigh to feed it to him.

They’re silent for a few minutes as Harry happily sucks on Louis’ thumb. His lips shine with spit and come and sweat and they’re swollen wrapped around Louis’ finger.

“Thank you,” Harry says quietly, letting the thumb fall from his mouth. “For, erm, not thinking I was too weird for wanting this.”

“I told you, I think it’s hot. You’re a good shag, Harry Styles.” Louis waggles his eyebrows at Harry until they both break out into giggles.

“I should probably get going soon.” Harry says it more as a question.

Louis is about to say no, thinking what would happen if any of his family walked in and saw him cuddling half-naked with some boy, but he doesn’t want to give Harry up just yet. He’s never exactly been someone who loves to cuddle after sex, but something about Harry makes him want to dive deeper under the covers, curl up protectively around this vulnerable, loving, beautiful boy and never let him go.

“Actually, why don’t you st –” Louis is interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Distantly he can hear Daisy calling his name.

“Shit,” he whispers.

Louis scrambles to get up and grabs a tissue from the box on his desk. He does a half-hazard job of wiping down Harry’s bum and thighs before they both pull their clothes back on and attempt to open the windows to air out the smell of sex.

By the time Daisy comes bursting through the door, Louis and Harry are curled up on the made bed debating over what movie to watch on Netflix.

“Harry!” Daisy shrieks, and runs over to tackle him.

“I see how it is,” Louis scoffs. “Harry’s your new play-toy and I’m just chop liver.”  
“Hi Louis,” Daisy giggles, offering her arms out for a hug. Harry gives him a wide smile over the top of her head.

“Harry?” Phoebe pokes her head through the door.  
“What is this, the Harry Show?” Louis grumbles as he watches his sisters cozy up next to Harry under the covers.

“It’s not always about you Lou,” Fizzy laughs as she walks into the room. Lottie follows closely behind her and they all manage to pile their way into the bed. Louis groans and smacks his hand against his forehead. Since when did this night turn so domestic?

“So what’re we watching?” Lottie asks conversationally, pulling the laptop so it’s on top of her knees. “Oh, Love Actually? My favorite!”

Harry looks at her like she’s just hung the moon. “Me too!”

“It’s decided then,” Lottie declares, clicking play. The girls all hunker down under the sheets as the opening credits start. Louis tries to catch Harry’s eye but his attention is completely devoted to Hugh Grant.

“You’re boyfriend is cute,” Lottie whispers to Louis, giving him an aproving smile.

“Not my boyfriend,” Louis grumbles petulantly.

“Not yet.” Lottie sounds pretty sure of herself and Louis itches the back of his neck, choosing not to answer. It’s not because he doesn’t know how to respond to her prediction, he’s just trying to be the mature one.

This is not exactly how Louis expected this night would end.

\--

It’s a beautiful day out, the sun is shining, and Louis is three fingers deep in Harry’s bum. They’ve been shut up in Harry’s room all afternoon, waiting for the rest of the boys to come over for their first official band practice with their new member. Obviously, they’re all running late and Louis got bored. They’ve both been insatiable lately, always on top of each other or near each other, planting kisses and tickles and licking, sucking, biting wherever they can reach.

“ _Harder_ , c’mon, more please,” Harry whines. He’s positioned over Louis’ legs, hands pulling ruthlessly at his own nipples and bouncing sharp and quick on Louis’ fingers. A sight to behold, honestly. Harry’s the most responsive person Louis has ever seen, counting the extensive amounts of porn he’s watched.

“Can’t give you anymore fingers love.” Harry’s lower lip wobbles in disappointment. To make up for it, he crooks his fingers just as Harry slides back down and he knows he’s hit his prostate when he mewls loudly.

“Shouldn’t have done that,” Louis says wickedly and yanks the headscarf that’s currently nestled in Harry’s hair and takes it off in favor of stuffing the silky fabric in his mouth to get him to keep quiet.

It proves to be quite successful when Harry’s eyes roll into the back of his head and he chokes on a moan.

Louis fucks his fingers in even harder now, ramming them deep into Harry’s tight little hole, the lube preventing too much of a drag and Harry’s nodding, chanting something that’s muffled by the headscarf and they both know he’s about to come when –

Liam decides to barge into the room unannounced. Louis snaps his head to the door and freezes, his fingers halting their movement. He’s about to apologize to Liam because he suddenly knows what’s coming next; there’s no way to stop it now. He begins to open his mouth but it’s too late, Harry makes a strangled noise and comes onto his and Louis’ chest, shivering with the aftershocks.

It gets quite awkward after that. Liam slaps a hand over his eyes and stutters out, “My bad, oh gosh, sorry boys. I’ll just, erm, go downstairs and wait for you two to, uh, clean up.” He blindly feels his way back out into the hall and shuts the door firmly behind him.

Louis promptly bursts into giggles, throwing his back on the pillows and sliding his sticky fingers out of Harry.

“Stop,” Harry whines, whacking Louis’ shoulder. “It’s not funny, that was so embarrassing. Now he knows I’m a freak.”

“Babe, you’re not a freak. Plus, my guess is that Liam gets up to some pretty kinky stuff himself so it’s fine. If anything, _we_ put on a show for him.” Harry gives him an exasperated look, a mix of fond and frustrated.

They clean each other up slowly, slipping into clean clothes and stuffing the dirty ones deep into the hamper. Harry won’t stop blushing so Louis spends an extra few minutes planting kisses all over his face and petting his curls. It servers no real purpose but it makes Harry smile.

When they finally do make it downstairs, Liam has his had planted in his hands and is tapping his foot anxiously. Zayn and Niall are huddled over a laptop, discussing something quietly and gesturing animatedly at the screen.

“Lads,” Harry says shyly. Louis pinches his side, right over his little love handle. Calm down, he communicates silently.

“Boys,” Niall looks up, an evil grin plastered on his face, confirming Louis’ suspicions that Liam told them what he saw. “Have a good afternoon?”

“Shut it Horan.” Louis pulls Harry protectively against his side. “What we do in our privacy is none of your business.”

“Not until Liam comes downstairs beet red and looking like he just saw the eighth wonder of the world.” Liam finally lifts his head and gives them a sheepish look.

“Well you’re not wrong. Harry’s cock is often mistaken for that.” Harry squeaks out, “Lou,” and the rest of the boys groan.

“Anyway,” Liam pipes up, eager to change the subject. “’We have a new member with us today. Let’s not scare him off before he even has a chance to sing with us.”

Zayn gives Liam a grateful look and Niall stands up and ushers them down into the basement where the equipment is. They’ve already pulled an extra stool out for Zayn, Louis notices.

“So this is where we typically practice,” Liam explains. “It’s hard to move the drums around so unless Gemma’s in a strop about how loud we’re being, then we stick here. We um, haven’t really done any gigs as of yet, so for now we’d just be rehearsing here.”

“We don’t want to put you off or anything,” Harry says hastily. “It’s just, we don’t want to get your hopes up that this is more than what it looks like. We do have Lou’s mum’s wedding, but other than that we don’t have much of a schedule.”

Zayn nods along like this information is important and trails behind Liam like a nervous puppy. Louis takes his usual spot on the couch and Harry comes and curls up next to him until he has to get up to sing.

They talk for a bit about their individual music preferences, taking extra time to listen to Zayn. It’s almost comical how starry-eyed they all get as Zayn discusses different artists and suggests ideas for how they can create the best sounding harmonies. They plug in his phone and pick apart his music library until they’ve found a few songs that they think will incorporate all of their tastes.

When they finally do get to actually performing, they sound fantastic, just like they’d all probably suspected all along. Louis always knew Zayn was talented, but he’s never seen him perform in such a professional setting. He hits high notes like it takes absolutely no effort at all and he has a knack for complimenting Harry’s voice. They run through a dozen songs while Louis watches, quietly observing. They don’t ask his opinion, but why would they? It’s clear that they’re really good. Louis doesn’t think he’d be surprised if they were to ever make it big, become one of those boybands his sisters are always fawning over.

Harry has a habit of staring intensely at Louis while he sings, so Louis makes sure to pull lots of funny faces to make him mess up. Gemma only comes down once to complain about the noise, but when she catches sight of Zayn she suddenly becomes interested in what they’re doing and spends a half hour sitting next to Louis on the couch.

By the end of their session, they’ve come up with an entire set list for the wedding and have plans to practice again later in the week. Louis isn’t going to toot his own horn or anything, but he did this. He basically made this happen.

“You know, I did this,” Louis states proudly. The other boys give him blank stares.

“Heyyy, I offered Zayn the position,” Harry pouts.

“Well, Zayn was my friend first.” Louis is a mature adult, he assures you he isn’t five.

“Well, I am Zayn,” says Zayn.

“How about we all shut the fuck up and get drunk?” Niall offers.

A murmur of agreement passes through the boys.

“Then it’s settled.”

And really, it’s quite hard to remember why they were arguing when they’re all buzzed and laughing over dumb TV, Harry on Louis’ lap and Zayn squished between Niall and Liam as they pass around a bottle of cheap wine they found in Harry’s fridge. It’s hard to imagine they haven’t all been friends for years, as they all get along quite well.

“I made this happen,” Louis slurs to nobody. He doesn’t hear anyone object and in his mind, that means he wins.

\--

“What’re you studying when you get to uni?” Harry asks one day. They’re outside in Louis’ backyard, cuddling on his hammock.

“Well I’ve always said I wanted to go into acting, but I’m not so sure. Maybe teaching? I could fall back on that.” Louis’ always been one to stoutly avoid any talk of the future, though as the day he’s due to move away continues to draw closer, he’s had to get used to it.

“Isn’t that bad, though? They always say you should never have a Plan B; it allows you to completely focus on Plan A. That way you don’t trick yourself into thinking that Plan B is the best way to go.” Harry’s nibbling on his lower lip and Louis swats it away and kisses over the plump skin.

“I suppose, but what happens when I find myself living on the street because I can’t make enough money to support myself in acting? It’s the responsible thing to do. Sure, acting would be ideal, but how often does that work out for anyone?”

It takes him a minute, but Louis catches on to why Harry may be asking these things.

“Why? What are you planning on studying?”

“I mean, obviously music is my first choice. But my dad’s always been on me to study law. He thinks lawyers are like, the most respectable kinds of people. Sure, they make more money, but what if I’m not happy? I just want to be happy.”

“It sounds like you’ve made your own mind up then love,” Louis chuckles, scratching behind Harry’s ear. “You don’t have to listen to what your dad wants you to do; you’re your own person. Besides, you’re good at music. I’m awful at acting. The band could go really far if you got your name out there.” Harry frowns at that, shifting so that he’s on his side facing Louis.

“I don’t think that’s true. You’re a great actor. I saw you in the school plays, you were really good.”

“You saw me in the school plays?” Louis asks incredulously.

“Well a few,” Harry stammers out. “You were like a superstar of the drama department, everyone knew about you. I had to see what all the fuss was about.”

Scoffing, Louis rolls over so that he’s lying like a starfish on the younger boy. “I mean, I was pretty fantastic. I can’t blame you for wanting to see me.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you that, now your ego’s gone and inflated.” Harry rolls his eyes but Louis knows he’s kidding. He leans up and wraps his arms tight around Louis, nuzzling his face into his neck. They drift to sleep like that, wrapped around each other. They’re conversation continues in silence, they’re lingering touches representing words they don’t say.

_Everything will work out; everything will be okay._

\--

They’re on Louis’ bed, supposed to be addressing and sealing envelopes to remind guests that the wedding is only two short weeks away (Louis finds that a little unnecessary but he’s never seen his mother so focused on something before so he won’t dare question it), when he suddenly pounces on Harry. What can he say, his attention span is little to nonexistent.

“You oaf, get off,” Harry complains, but he makes no move to escape from Louis grasp. The letters have scattered beneath him and Louis takes the time to sweep them off to the side. He’s a considerate son.

“Will you let me try something?” It’s a long shot, Louis knows, but ever since the party, Louis’ been wanting to get Harry alone and willing.

“Depends on what you’re thinking?” Harry’s smiling up at him, the picture of innocence with his dimples.

Abruptly, Louis says, “Call someone. Right now, on the phone.”

“What? Like who? What am I supposed to say?” Harry looks at him, confused as Louis grabs his phone from the nightstand and hands it to him.

“Anyone you want to call. Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to hold polite conversations, Harold?”

“’S not my name.” Harry cuffs Louis on the side of his head. “Fine.”

This isn’t even the best part and Louis’ already turned on from how Harry just does what he asks. It’s quiet for a moment as he scrolls through his contacts before deciding on a number and dialing.

While the phone is ringing, Louis makes deliberate eye contact with Harry as he grabs the waistband of his trackies and yanks them down in one go.

“Louis, _what the fuck are you do_ – Hey Gem!” Harry keeps his tone casual and bright as he greets his sister (his sister, oh this will be fun) but he keeps his eyes wide and locked on Louis.

“Don’t you dare make a sound,” Louis mouths. He tosses Harry’s jeans onto the floor before returning for his tight briefs.

“Not doing much, just thought I’d call and check how you were. How’s the – ah - beach?” Listening closely, Louis can tell Harry’s voice is already a bit breathless. Visually he can see his cock fattening up inside his underwear. The fact that something as simple as this can affect Harry so much makes Louis’ mouth water.

He hums agreement to something Gemma says on the other side of the line. Meanwhile, his eyebrows have shot up to the top of his forehead as he watches Louis’ movements in disbelief. Louis winks at him before shoving Harry’s legs up and sliding off his briefs to reveal his heavy, leaking cock and tiny hole.

“Don’t you dare.” Harry’s voice is manic once he’s caught on to what Louis’ planning. “No, sorry, not you Gem. It’s, erm, Louis’ cat.”

“I’m more of a dog person actually,” Louis remarks and that earns him a punch in the arm.

Grinning wickedly, Louis slowly leans in and puff a small bit of air over Harry, watching him clench and squirm. He purposefully rubs what tiny bit of stubble he has from not shaving for a week over the insides of Harry’s thighs, biting and nipping tiny bruises into the sensitive skin and Harry has to slap a hand over his mouth to keep from crying out. Louis licks a small circle around Harry’s rim with his tongue, reveling in the way his thighs immediately clamp tight like a vice around Louis’ head.

“Did she really?” Harry’s voice is desperately wrecked already.

Roughly, Louis pokes the end of his tongue out, breaching Harry’s hole and slipping inside to lick at the velvet walls. He’s so focused on making Harry release these little breathy whimpers that he’s thoroughly surprised when he catches Harry pressing the mute button on his phone and reaching down to yank Louis’ head up by his hair.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” His jaw is clenched and his green eyes are dark and wild.

“Don’t you want to be a good boy for me, Haz?” Louis ignores Harry’s protests and caresses his face. “You don’t want your sister to know how naughty you are, do you?”

“ _Shit_ ,” Harry whines, flopping back on the bed in defeat. “Yeah, wanna be your good boy.”

He releases the mute button and takes a deep breath. “Yeah, sorry, I’m here. The connection might be bad. Keep going.”

Louis can’t tell who that comment is directed towards, but he takes that as permission to keep using the flat of his tongue to tear Harry apart. He uses his teeth to nibble around the skin of Harry’s bum cheeks, earning a sob-disguised-chuckle for his efforts.

Now that he knows it’s a game, Louis decides to go for it. He’s being sloppy, he knows, but he’s only rimmed someone one other time and Harry tastes so fucking good he can’t imagine wanting his tongue anywhere else. He’s warm and soft and tastes like boy and man and sex and absolute need and Louis’ high off of it, using the flat of his palms to spread Harry’s cheeks wider and nuzzling his face deeper. He can physically feel Harry becoming looser and knowing that he did that with just his tongue has Louis moaning, voice muffled by the skin of Harry’s bum. His hips involuntarily grind down on the bed.

“What did you say to her then?” Harry’s lucky that Gemma seems to be doing most of the talking. He’s currently clutching the phone in one hand and has the other fist in Louis’ hair, both grips white-knuckled.

Louis wets a finger with his mouth before sliding it in gently next to his tongue. Harry almost chucks the phone across the room in surprise and just manages to conceal his cry as a cough. He’s thrashing now, feet planted firmly on the bed but slipping further down as he jerks around, fucking up into the air. He keeps making small murmurs of agreement with whatever Gemma’s saying but Louis knows he’s paying absolutely no attention to anything that isn’t Louis’ mouth.

Just as Louis begins exploring Harry’s warm walls in an attempt to find his prostate, Harry yells out a quick, “Gem I – I have to go, now, I’m sorry, I’ll call you back later okay?” and throws his phone off the bed in favor of throwing his head back and mewling.

“Look at you,” Louis grins proudly, coming up for air. “Look what that does to you.”

Harry opens his eyes long enough to look down at Louis between his legs and cry out. “Oh fuck, _fuck_ Louis.”

“Yeah, this turning you on? The fact that your sister – _god your sister_ – could have figured out what you were up to at any moment? Figured out that you had another bloke’s fingers up your arse? Maybe the fact that you could barely cover up your moans because you want it so fucking bad?” Louis is fucking two fingers in and out of Harry now, using his other hand to fondle his balls and trace around his rim.

Harry thrashes out, both legs tensing as he shoots up onto his stomach, hips bucking up into nothing. Louis shoves his fingers in one last time and keeps them pressed firmly up against Harry’s prostate, helping him ride out his orgasm. Harry finally brings a hand down to his cock and strokes it gently between two fingers as he tries to even out his breathing.

Louis withdraws his fingers when Harry’s eyes start shutting, a small smile playing on his lips. Quickly, he pulls his pants down and palms at the bulge beneath his briefs before pulling his cock out and wrapping a hot hand around himself. He uses the image of Harry spread out and covered in his own come to help get himself off. It only takes a few expert strokes of his hand before he’s coming all over his fist and dripping onto Harry’s thigh, the streaks creating some kind of art just for him and Harry to appreciate.

\--

The day of the wedding is chaos from the moment Louis’ alarm clock goes off at 8 am. His mum barges into his room and demands to see his suit to double check there are no wrinkles or stains. He barely has time to hop in the shower before his sisters are screaming at him from behind the door to get out because they’ll be late to their hair appointment.

Dan is nowhere to be seen for the first half of the morning until he walks through the door looking mysteriously well rested for having his bachelor party the night before. The men find themselves ready a solid two hours before the girls are even back from the salon. By the time they’re all piling in cars to head down to the church, Daisy has already had a temper tantrum and Fizzy has broken one of Lottie’s nails when they had a fight over who got to wear their grandmother’s precious pearl necklace.

At the church, they all scatter. There are two small rooms for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to get ready in before the ceremony. Louis chooses to sit on a couch in the corner and text Harry until he wakes up and answers (he does eventually, in a record 45 minutes). Dan comes by once to make sure the flower on Louis’ chest is pinned correctly to his lapel and before he knows it they’re being called to gather at the front of the church to countdown the short minutes until Jay appears through the double doors and makes her way down the aisle.

Of course, Daisy and Phoebe come first, scattering rose petals on the floor as they go. Phoebe ends up skipping too fast and almost trips but bless him, Harry holds out an arm to catch her fall (he arrived a minute before the ceremony was due to start, looking much too delicious in his black suit and powder blue tie). Fizzy comes next, blushing as she tries not to step on the skirt of her dress. Lottie is shortly after and almost bursts out laughing when she sees Louis cross his eyes and stick out his tongue at her.

There’s a minute pause where the audience murmurs in anticipation before Louis’ mum appears and begins her slow walk down to the alter. She looks stunning in her dress, and Louis pinches his thigh in an effort to bite back the tears that are suddenly pricking at his eyes. It’s not like he’s giving her away to get married, but it sure feels like it when she takes Dan’s hands and says her vows. Jay and the girls have always looked to him to be the man of the house, but now it seems as if he has to give that role up.

With his sadness, there’s also a bit of a relief. Although he doesn’t like Dan in the slightest, he feels at ease knowing that when he leaves he won’t be leaving them with no help. He knows that Dan will make sure to support the girls and make sure they live a comfortable life. It’s the one thing he’s got going for him.

As soon as they arrive at the reception, Louis escapes to the bathroom for a moment of peace and quiet. The day has been unexpectedly overwhelming and while he’s usually been able to handle a gaggle of women, he’s not usually had to endure this many hours of pinched cheeks and lipstick kisses. He has a headache.

**where are you**

While he waits for a reply, Louis takes a piss and washes his hands in the warm water, sighing as he splashes a bit on his face and pats it dry.

_Getting ready to play for your family you donut_

**cant u sneak into the bathroom so i can blow you????**

_Tempting. But it might look suspicious. Rain check? xx_

**if ur good**

Louis pockets his phone, secretly hoping that Harry will read his text and get all blushy in front of the guests. Now that his plan of seducing Harry in one of the cramped toilet stalls is blown, he concedes and leaves the bathroom to make an appearance at the party.

His suit is itchy and he tries to adjust the collar so it’s not chafing his skin. He gives the party a quick once-over. He’s not purposely seeking out Harry, but his eyes find him quickly across the room near the stage. He looks nervous, Louis can tell, bouncing anxiously on the balls of his feet and muttering something to Niall. He’s never been there to witness it first hand, but he’s heard from the boys that Harry has a bad case of nerves before any show. Liam is twirling a drumstick in his hand and glancing around like he’s looking for someone. Louis doesn’t think of who it could be until he realizes they’re missing Zayn.

“Oh for fucks sake,” Louis mutters. He turns on his heel and heads for the exit doors. He walks around the building before he finds an alleyway that spills out off of the kitchen of the reception hall. He can hear the clink of pans from beyond the screen door and the gentle hiss of a dozen ovens, but otherwise it’s generally quiet.

Just like he guessed, Zayn is standing in the shadows, cigarette lit and dangling from his mouth. It’s so very Zayn that Louis has to huff out a laugh before he approaches him, quietly plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and taking a hit for himself.

“How’d you know I was here?” Zayn says. His voice is rough with smoke and teenage angst.

“Mate, you’re not as mysterious as you’d like to think you are.”

They’re both quiet for a moment as they examine the last burning embers of the cigarette. Zayn stubs it into the gravel and tips his head back so that it rests against the wall behind them.

“If you’re nervous, I’m sure the lads wouldn’t mind if you bailed.” Louis knows that Zayn will come around, but he humors him anyway. Reverse psychology and all that.

“There’s a lot of people out there, Louis.”

“A lot of people who’re going to be amazed as soon as you open your mouth.”

Zayn laughs at that and Louis nudges his shoulder with his own. “Look, it’ll be okay in the end. You’ve surely practiced enough, that I can attest to.”

It’s true too; Louis has observed Zayn practice with the band for a few weeks now. It’s amazing really, how fast they’re voices just worked together. If Harry, Liam, and Niall were good before, Zayn’s voice completes them, makes them sound like a real band.

“I just don’t want to fuck up their chances of getting noticed. You know, like, if this becomes a permanent thing. I don’t want to ruin any opportunities that they might have gotten if I weren’t in the way.”

“I’d hardly say you’re in anyone’s way, Z. You’re meant to be in the band just as much as the rest of them.”

Zayn takes another thoughtful drag of his cigarette and stares down at the pavement quietly. Eventually, he looks up at Louis and gives a small smirk.

“This is it then, huh? I suppose now I’ll have to go out there and smash it.”

“Good timing too, because I’ve run out of things to say to make you go back inside.” Zayn laughs loudly and pulls Louis up from the ground.

“You’re the best you know,” he mumbles.

Louis coos; sentimental Zayn is his favorite. “Don’t I know it.”

-

To no one’s surprise, they’re absolutely incredible. Once the rest of the band sees Zayn walking towards them, albeit a bit sheepishly, they’re quick to set up the rest of their equipment and start their set. Harry finds Louis’ eye in the crowd and mouths his thanks.

Louis goes to sit at the family table next to the twins who are content to sit and color on the table cloth rather than dance. Louis spends his time watching Harry bop around the stage, curls flopping and cheeks dimpling like a fucking Disney princess. It’s quite a sight, considering their genre of music is mostly rock and indie. Harry’s always been a walking contradiction.

Lottie comes over halfway through and looks down at Louis through her lashes, pleading. “Please dance with me Lou, so I don’t look like an idiot?”

It takes a bit more begging on Lottie’s part before Louis finally gives in and lets her lead them to the dance floor. He takes his sister’s hands and starts twirling her around, swaying and dancing as the band breaks into their cover of Summer of ‘69.

By the end of the song, most of all the guests are on the dance floor, grandparents included. Harry announces that he and Zayn will be taking a short break and Niall and Liam are quick to take over.

Harry hops off the stage and shakes out his hair before pushing it to the side and out of his eyes. He stumbles his way over to Louis right away and Lottie gives them a knowing smile before hopping off to some of their cousins.

“Hey stranger,” Louis murmurs, pulling Harry into the circle of his arms. Harry sighs happily and nuzzles his cheek into the side of Louis’ neck. They start to attempt some sort of slow-dance even though the music is a little too upbeat. Louis could care less.

“Are we doing okay up there?” Harry asks nervously.

“Well, you look hot for one.” Harry giggles into Louis’ shoulder. “And yes, I’d say you sound quite good too. Zayn was a really good addition.”

“I know right?” Harry says excitedly. “I just knew when I heard him that he’d be perfect for us. And now look at us, performing outside of my basement!”

“Proud of you,” Louis mumbles into Harry’s curls.

Harry pulls back and gives Louis a long look before he leans forward and kisses him. It’s rough with no finesse; it’s promising.

When he pulls back, Harrys lower lip is a bit swollen and his cheeks are flushed under Louis’ attention. They resume dancing as though nothing had interrupted them, right up until Harry’s due back onstage.

And if when Harry’s up there singing his little heart out, Louis happens to brag a bit to his grandma about his boy, no one has to know.

-

When Louis finally makes it home, he’s drunk on giggles and arousal while Harry is actually drunk on too much champagne. Louis helps him out of the passenger seat and they stumble their way up to the front door.

Louis’ mum and Dan are officially off on a two-week honeymoon and the girls have been shipped off to their grandparent’s house. Louis, being the oldest, gets the whole house to himself. Good thing too, since he has plans. Bum plans. Bum plans with Harry.

Once they’re safely inside the house with the door locked, Harry turns on Louis and attaches himself to the older boy’s neck.

“Want you so bad,” Harry whimpers. He’s already hard where he’s pressed up against Louis.

“I’ll take care of you baby,” Louis reassures him. He reaches down and grabs a handful of Harry’s pert bum in his hand and uses it as leverage to rock him forward a few times to relieve the tension.

If Louis could describe how Harry acted when he was turned on, he’d liken his behavior to that of a ragdoll. He suddenly becomes so pliant and bendable, giving himself up to Louis.

They kiss languidly for a few minutes, the only sound in the hall being smacking lips and Harry’s tiny whimpers.

“Baby,” Louis gently pries Harry’s hands off him. “Let’s head upstairs.”

Harry insists he’s so impatient that he has to sprint up the stairs. Louis is close behind him and tackles him to the bed, pinning his wrists above him and attacking his collarbones.

“I win,” he giggles into the dip of Harry’s throat.

“Says who? I got here first.” It’s not hard to tell that Harry’s hot for it with the way his voice is deep and breathless.

“What? I’ve been here the whole time! You just didn’t see me.” It breaks the heat of moment enough so they both bust out laughing. Louis sits back on Harry’s thighs and reaches for his shirt, ushering him to pull it off.

“You too,” Harry whispers. They haven’t directly said where this is headed, but they both know. Everything has been leading up to this moment. Neither of them have to say aloud how ready they are for it.

Louis complies easily and soon they’re both down to their underwear. Normal times they’re rushed and too clouded with arousal to take things slow. This time, they lay on their sides, legs tangled, kissing lazily. Louis is well aware that Harry is still painfully hard and leaking against his thigh, but he hasn’t spoken up about it in a while and Louis begins to realize he probably won’t until Louis says he can take care of it.

“How would you feel about coming twice tonight?” Louis asks when he pulls away from Harry’s sinful mouth.

“Twice?” Harry squeaks. He doesn’t look so much repulsed by the idea as he does intrigued.

“Wanna see you make yourself come for me,” Louis orders. His voice has taken over that rough quality that he only ever uses with Harry. He knows Harry gets off on it, knows that he much rather prefers being told what to do so he doesn’t have to think about anything, so he can feel.

“How?” Harry blushes.

Louis guides the younger boy until he’s straddling Louis and helps him push his briefs down until they’re shoved down past his bum. Harry gives him a quizzical look until he explains, “Touch yourself for me baby.”

Harry lets out a little cry at finally being allowed to touch himself. Louis is watching him closely, watching his expression as he wraps a hand around his cock and begins petting over the slit and using the precome to wet the rest of the shaft.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Harry whispers out. He starts moving his hand more vigorously once he sees Louis appraising him with his eyes. Louis has to reach a hand down to adjust himsef in his boxers as Harry moves down to tug at his balls.

“Look so beautiful baby,” Louis tells him.

“Feels so good with you watching Lou,” Harry drops his head and squeezes his eyes shut, mouth falling open around a silent moan.

“Love watching you,” Louis quips back. “Putting yourself on display for me so I can see how pretty you look when you touch yourself. Use your hands so well, H.”

“Mmm.”

It’s silent for a while as Harry works a quick hand over his cock. Every so often he’ll let out a stream of whimpers, but just as suddenly he’ll shut up and silently make eye contact with Louis. Louis offers no encouragement, just drinks in the sight with his eyes. Harry eventually starts rocking forward, every so slightly bouncing from where he’s perched on Louis’ chest, almost like he’s riding him. Shit. Harry better come soon or Louis’ taking matters into his own hands.

“Can you come for me now? Come all over yourself like a good boy?” Harry’s cock visibly twitches inside the confines of his tight fist and he spills thick over his fingers.

“So nice,” Louis comments, swiping up a bit of come with his thumb and sucking on it appreciatively. He’s almost inclined to pat himself on the back for acting so nonchalant when really he’s aching in his boxers.

He hears a whimper from above him and when he glances up, Harry is shifting uncomfortably on his lap, still completely hard.

“Shit baby, what’s wrong?” He reaches up and places gentle fingers on Harry’s cock and yep, still hot and solid like he hasn’t even gotten off yet.

“Need more,” Harry sobs brokenly.

“Okay, shh, it’ll be all right,” Louis murmurs, reaching up to stroke his hair. It only makes him fidget more.

What Louis was expecting to be slow and intimate now seems like it’s going to be rough and dirty. He rolls them until he’s now sitting atop Harry and reaches over to his nightstand where he yanks open the drawer too quickly and all of its contents come tumbling out.

He curses and Harry barks out a laugh as he struggles to pile it all back in and put the drawer back on its tracks. He places the lube off to the side and is about to grab the condoms when he pauses to look back at Harry.

“Condom?” He asks tentatively. He knows he’s clean but he doesn’t know Harry’s sexual history. That’s something they’d never brought up before.

“Erm, I mean I’m clean, so – if you are?”

“I am, I’m clean,” Louis breathes out, relieved. He knows deep down that they should have had this conversation much sooner but now that he knows he’s going to be coming into Harry’s arse he feels a bit better about where things stand.

He starts slow, though he knows Harry can take two fingers almost immediately. He wiggles in the first and adds the second only when Harry starts writhing and begging for more. By the time he hits three fingers and is suckling on the head of Harry’s cock, the younger boy is moaning uncontrollably, fingers fisted in Louis’ hair.

“ _Please_ Louis, need your cock now.” Harry tugs on Louis’ hair until he pops off his cock and sends him a wicked grin.

He makes sure to spread a large helping of lube around Harry’s hole as well as down his cock. He scoots forwards until he’s pressed Harry’s legs towards his chest, effectively folding him in half. By the time he nudges the blunt head of his cock into Harry, he’s mewling and thrashing around, looking for something to grab onto with his grabby fingers.

“I’m right here for you darling,” Louis grunts. He pushes himself forward until finally, finally, he bottoms out, hipbones pressed tight against the doughy skin of Harry’s ass.

“Tell me when to mo-”

“ _Now_ ,” Harry cuts in, yanking Louis until he falls forward and by force plunges deeper into Harry.

“ _Fuck_ ,” they both cry out in unison. Harry’s got his eyes shut and his lower lip sucked between his teeth and Louis calls him out on it, order him to keep his eyes open.

He slowly begins shallowly thrust in and out of Harry’s tight heat. The drag is incredible without a condom and Louis’ eyes almost roll to the back of his head in pleasure. As the air between them thickens, Louis begins to move his hips faster, fucking into Harry with all he’s got. Harry’s moans echo off the walls and ring in Louis’ ears as he grips onto Harry’s thighs and use them to propel himself forward in every thrust.

Harry practically screams when Louis finds his prostate and keeps chanting y _es please fuck me harder, harder Louis_ and Louis can’t help but give it to him since he’s asked so nicely. He feels his orgasms coiling in the pit of his stomach and he chases after the feeling, hoping Harry’s close too.

“Oh god, Haz I’m gonna come, please tell me you’re close,” he babbles, hips not losing speed from where they’re punching into Harry.

Harry opens his mouth but no words come out. Rather, he just nods furiously and before he can even reach a hand down to help himself along, his abs tense up and he shoots so far up his chest he ends up getting some of his come on his chin. He looks so good like that, flushed and fucked and sweaty, that Louis comes almost instantly just from the sight of him, although the way his hole tightens around Louis, trapping his cock in a suffocating hold, also helps.

“Oh my god,” Harry blurts out once Louis’ pulled out and is lying next to him on the bed.

“Yeah?” Louis grins at him and uses a clean hand to brush back his sweaty hair.

“Can we do that all the time?” He asks, unabashed. They both break out laughing and Louis can’t say no to that.

It’s pleasant falling asleep together after that. Harry ends up snuggled close to Louis’ with all of his limbs tucked neat and close together. The sound of Harry’s snores lulls Louis to sleep, and he’s satisfied as he drifts off knowing that he doesn’t have to worry about any pesky sisters barging in on him this time.

\--

So. It’s been a week since Louis was inside Harry and he’s having withdrawals. That might be one reason why he’s been whining to Stan all day at work about how fit Harry is and how pretty he looks when he comes (“Lou, I love you, but I do not need to know what Harry’s ‘O’ face looks like.” “Stan. He moans like a fucking pornstar.” “Louis. I do not care.”)

“So you’re telling me that you two had sex but you aren’t boyfriends yet?” Stan finally ventures to ask. He scoffs incredulously as he drags the dustpan towards Louis’ broom.

“I told you, it’s complicated.” Louis half-heartedly swipes the trash towards Stan and entertains the idea of impaling himself with the broomstick before he dies of boredom. Zayn was with them earlier in the afternoon but he clocked out just before lunch, leaving Louis groveling on the floor begging him to stay. You could just call it a typical Monday.

“A lot seems to be complicated with you lately.” Louis’ about to interject when, “If both uni and Harry are off limits and your mum’s wedding is over, what’s there left to talk about?”

Louis makes a great show of sighing loudly and setting down the broomstick before enveloping Stan in his arms and swaying them back and forth.

“Aw, Stanley,” he coos, kissing the crown of his head. “You like talking to me.”

Stan grunts and shoves Louis off him with a swift push. “That’s a lie. You’re insufferable.”

Louis voices his disagreement and places a wet smacking kiss on Stan’s cheek, ruffling his hair before returning to the broom. They’re quiet for a few minutes, Louis with a smug smile plastered on his face.

“So really, be honest. If you and Harry aren’t boyfriends yet, what are you?” Louis knows he’s probably much more transparent than he prefers, and it’s clear that Stan knows just how he works, how best to get him to talk. And though Louis knows it’s happening, that he’s being manipulated with Stan’s now gentle voice, he still manages to break and give in.

“He’s great, okay? Funny, charming, smart, we get along really well. But it’s a fling as far as I can see. I’m going to uni in the fall, he’ll stay here. We’ll have had our fun but we’ll be on different paths, headed towards different things. It just seems too complicated to try and drag it along when we both know it might not work out in the long run.”

It’s heavy, it’s a lot, but Stan simply hums his agreement and nods. He doesn’t push it and Louis is grateful. He’s not one to lay it all out and bare himself to someone so easily for fear of judgment or rejection. Even with Stan it’s hard sometimes to say exactly what he’s thinking because he doesn’t like to feel anyone’s pity or sympathy.

“I suppose that’s a valid point, but have you ever thought that some things might just be worth fighting for?” It’s a very enlightened thing to say, but Louis mulls it over for a bit while they empty the dust-pan into the bin and put the supplies back in the closet behind the front desk.

He hears the bell on the front door ring and as he’s lifting his head to see who’s entered the shop Louis bangs his head on the counter.

“Fucking bloody shit,” he murmurs, rubbing the sore spot. He surveys the shop, empty except for Stan who’s laughing at him as he walks back out from the closet.

“That’s what you get for being a sodding idiot.” Louis elbows him in the ribs as he walks past to sit on one of the stools by the cash register.

“Listen, okay, the way I see it - and I mean this in the literal sense because I have seen it - no matter how much you want something, you’re not always guaranteed to get it. Look at mum and all her ex-boyfriends.”

“Did you forget to include the part where she’s married now?” Stan gives him a funny look and Louis pretends not to notice as he sorts money from the register.

“Yeah but who knows how long that’s gonna last. Honestly, I’d be surprised if they made it to next year.”

“Louis.” Sadness colors Stan’s voice. “It’s one thing to be upset about the fallout of your mum’s past relationships, but it’s another to let it ruin your perception of her very new, very happy marriage. You shouldn’t brace yourself for another disaster, it’ll just leave you paranoid and lonely.”

“That’s deep for someone who’s never had a proper relationship.” Louis knows he’s gone too far when he looks over at Stan and sees his expression is stony.

“You know Hannah and I didn’t work out because her parents didn’t want to let her date before she was in university. Listen Lou, I know that having your dad walk out and watching your mum go through a lot of breakups has put you in a sour disposition, but it won’t help to live life thinking love can’t exist. If you wanted to be with Harry bad enough you’d find a way to stay together; the hardest thing you’ll have to do is acknowledge first that you’re head over heels for him, which anyone with two functioning eyes could see.”

“Look, there are a million reasons why this might not work out. It’s not just because of me.”

Stan looks at Louis like he pities him, and Louis absolutely loathes when anyone gives him that look.

“I’m just saying, maybe you want to lock that shit up before he moves on and finds someone else.”

\--

Louis doesn’t hear from Harry before he’s leaving with Stan to go to orientation at their university just outside of the city. They’re heading up there in the morning and planning to stay overnight, in the hopes that they’ll be invited to a party on campus.

He doesn’t really think of it as a bad thing; he’ll have you know that he and Harry are two normal human beings who don’t need to always be attached at the hip. They can function perfectly fine by themselves.

He remembers mentioning something to Harry a few weeks back, but he makes sure to send a quick text.

**put on my big boy pants, headed off to uni tour. see you in two days ! :)**

Harry’s usually always right by his phone, but Louis blames his lack of response on the fact that it’s still early in the morning and he may just be sleeping in.

“Mate, c’mon.” Stan yells over to Louis. They finish packing the car with the essentials (beer, a change of clothes, beer, condoms, Yorkshire tea packets).

Jay calls right before Louis turns the key into the ignition and Stan gets to twiddle his thumbs for twenty minutes while she weeps over the phone about how her baby is growing up. Once Louis hangs up they’re on the road, stopping only twice on the way to fill up the gas tank and buy some crisps to tide them over.

The campus isn’t hard to navigate. Once they’re outside of city limits it’s fairly easy to follow the herds of teenagers to the front gates of the school and find parking. It’s a little past noon, so with growling stomachs the two boys head off to one of the many offered restaurants in the quaint food court. Louis spares a glance at his messages to see that Harry’s read his text message an hour ago but hasn’t responded. Hm.

He’s about to send another, more worried text but Stan distracts him by stealing several fries from his plate.

“Oi, bugger off. I paid good money for this. Eat your own damn food.”

“Like I didn’t see you take all of the tomatoes out of my burger when I got up to get napkins. You’re a dirty liar, Tommo.”

Louis pokes his tongue out (yes, he’ll have you know he is the master of comebacks) and resumes eating. Around him the students bustle in and out of buildings. Some are lounging further down on the sprawling lawns, riding bikes, reading on benches. It’s still summer, but some of the students have already returned for the fall semester; some of them have never left. It’s such a huge campus filled with so many amenities that a lot of people don’t find a reason to go home, especially if they’re from far away.

“So what’s the game plan?” Stan asks. Louis is about to open his mouth to respond when Stan answers his own question. “I figure we go sign up for classes, check out the dorms, take a stop at the hotel to freshen up, then go get fantastically drunk.”

“Sounds good to me,” Louis grins back. He’s excited, he already feels independent and capable of having a good time while being responsible. He has a burst of longing when he realizes he wishes Harry were here to go out with him tonight, get drunk and blow each other in the bathroom of some frat house, but it vanishes when a giant fly lands on his arm and he flails so wildly that he ends up knocking his food and drink to the ground.

-

It’s later, much later in fact, when Louis is well on his way to being shitfaced that he realizes he may have been playing off how worried he really was about Harry. Of course, his drunken brain makes the logical decision to call him in the middle of a raging party.

The phone rings, and rings, and rings, and then there’s Harry’s chirpy voice. It takes Louis a solid minute to realize it’s his voicemail. _Hiiiiii, you’ve erm, reached me? Harry, this is Harry’s phone. But I suppose you know that if you’re calling. So leave a message? Only if you want or if it’s like, super important. Thanks, have a good day!_

“Harry,” Louis whispers into the phone. He clears his throat. Tries again. “Harry. It’s kind of weird not hearing from you all day. But like, we’re okay, right? You’re okay? Just like, text me if you get this. Just so I know you’re okay. You’d love uni, by the way. There’s this shop, right, in the food court. It sells like a bunch of different kinds of bananas dipped in anything you want. I tried one for you, a chocolate dipped one. Anyway, that’s random, but I thought of you. Right so, text me please, I really –” the dial tone indicates that he’s run out of time. A bolt of relief shoots down Louis’ spine, part of his brain glad he didn’t let Harry know that he misses him. A lot.

Really, the only solution he sees to make himself feel better is to get even more drunk. He lets Stan and a group of girls dressed in skimpy outfits pull him in by their long pointed nails and drown him in liquor. Harry is honestly the last thing on his mind by the time they make their way back to the hotel, staggering up the four floors and out of their clothes before they fall into bed. Louis checks his phone, but his eyes are swimming in vodka and his contacts have fallen out at some point so he can’t read the message that’s sitting in his inbox.

_Fuck you._

\--

Louis’ chewed off almost all of his nails by the time they finally pull into his driveway. Stan puts the car in park and takes the keys out of the ignition before he turns to Louis.

“Mate. Chill out. You look like you’re heading off to war.”

“Well wouldn’t you be a bit worried if you had a vulgar text from your….your –” Louis trails off.

“Bum buddy?” Stan supplies.

“Shut up. But honestly, ‘fuck you’ can’t really mean anything too good. Besides, he didn’t answer any of my other texts or calls so he must be mad. Right?”

When Louis had woken up that morning, hungover with a very dry mouth, he hadn’t been expecting to find such a threatening message from Harry. In fact, he was utterly confused for an hour, couldn’t fathom why Harry would send him something like that until he went to call his mum and saw that he’d made a call to Harry the night before while he was drunk. He doesn’t really remember the contents of the message he most likely left Harry (he’s a chatty drunk) but he can’t imagine it was good considering the response he got.

“Well you know him better than I do.” Stan hops out of the car and opens the trunk to grab his duffel.

“You’re no help at all, you know that?”

Louis continues to mull it over even after Stan has left. He’s found himself alone in his house with nothing to do and consequently no one to talk to. He spends an 45 minutes trying to come up with a response to Harry that both sounds like an apology and will somehow force him to explain what exactly Louis did wrong in the first place. Ultimately, he’s unsuccessful.

The last time he’d seen Harry, everything had been absolutely fine. Fuck, they’d had sex after the wedding. They’d gone all the way. Unless the sex was terrible and Harry was bitter? But he’d been so happy and glowing after, so that didn’t seem likely. They’d even tried sexting just four nights ago and after both coming to the thought of Harry wearing pink lace panties split in the back where he’d be seated on Louis’ cock, he’d sent him a _you were fantastic, Lou. love doing this with you xxx_. Things couldn’t have gone to shit that fast, could they?

Harry will come around eventually, Louis tells himself. He keeps saying that as he wanders aimlessly around the house, phone a silent weight in his pocket.

\--

Three days pass. Harry has not come around. Louis decides to take desperate measures.

**have you been round to harry’s lately?**

Zayn takes a grueling three minutes to respond. In that time Louis manages to frantically eat half a sleeve of Oreos.

_just got home from band prac actually. have U been round to harrys lately?_

Louis debates whether telling Zayn about his... problems is a good idea. He doesn’t really want to worry him.

**take a wild guess ;)**

_then why are u asking me_

**just trying to make conversation you chiseled fool**

_ur weird_

Louis groans internally. He tries texting Niall and Liam but he gets a similar, more suspicious response from Niall and no answer from Liam. Things are officially weird. At this point Louis decides he needs to take matters into his own hands. First things first, a nap is in order.

After he decides he’s well rested and has sat in his car for twenty minutes with mild anxiety, Louis drives to Harry’s house, hands shaking where they’re resting on the steering wheel.

He steps out on wobbly feet and approaches the front door cautiously. As he’s about to ring the bell, Gemma steps out and shrieks.

“Christ, Louis, we’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she says, hand over her chest. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” Louis laughs nervously. “Listen, you wouldn’t happen to know where Harry is or, like, whyhe’snotansweringmytextsorcalls?”

Gemma chuckles, amused as Louis rushes out the last part. “Well, it’s not really my place to say now is it? However, if you find yourself at the park down the street you might find what you’re looking for.”

“How do I know you’re not lying and not just trying to send me away because you hate me now?”

“I’d call it a very, very, strong dislike. I also believe my brother deserves some kind of closure. He’s been a wreck for the past few days, so I expect you’re the only thing that can fix him.” She gives Louis a pointed look and adjusts her bag so it’s sitting higher on her shoulder.

“But I don’t even know what I did!” Louis exclaims, throwing his hands up into the air. “One day we were fine and then suddenly I can’t get a hold of him.”

“Like I said, it’s not my place. My advice to you, however, is to be gentle with my baby brother. He’s sensitive.”

“Am I going to lose him?” Louis dares to ask in a small voice.

“That’s not really up to me to decide,” Gemma says sadly. She steps off the porch and gestures for Louis to follow her. She walks him down to his car and even goes as far to open the door for him. “Go find him now, before you change your mind. I can see the fear in your eyes.”

They both laugh quietly at that, and Louis turns to her before he closes the door. “Thank you.”

“For what?” She asks, smirking.

“For not slamming the door in my face, I guess?” Louis scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Count yourself lucky for now, but if I see you again I just might.” Gemma gives him a small solute and steps back as Louis buckles up and drives off.

-

The park is only a few blocks away and Louis finds it easily. It’s fairly empty, save for a few kids climbing the play structure only to throw themselves down the slide. It’s quite easy to pick out Harry, a gangly giant amidst small children. He’s sitting alone on one of the swings, back towards Louis. He’s got his head tipped back and eyes closed, soaking in the warm sunlight.

He’s a sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure. Louis is a bit breathless; Harry’s almost prettier than the last time he saw him. Slowly, he approaches the swing set and sits himself down on the one next to Harry. The younger boy startles and turns to see who’s interrupted his peace and quiet, but he stoutly turns away when he sees it’s Louis.

“Harry,” Louis pleads. “Look at me please.”

No answer.

“I want to know what I did wrong so I can fix it, baby. Please just tell me.”

“Don’t call me baby.” Harry whispers. His voice breaks a little but he refuses to meet Louis’ eye.

“Okay then...Harry. I just need to know why you’re upset with me. I’ve missed you the past few days.” Louis wants so bad to reach out and stroke a hand down Harry’s thigh, pinch his dimple, anything. But he knows Harry would only pull away.

“You’re pretty dense if you don’t already know,” Harry spits out.

“Did I say something? Was it – after the wedding, were you not ready? Did we move too fast?” Louis really, really hopes he’s wrong. He can’t imagine hurting Harry.

“The sex was fine Louis,” Harry huffs. “You of all people should know it didn’t mean anything, if all we are is just a fling.”

“A fling?” Louis asks. Harry looks at him like he’s slow and things start to click in Louis’ brain. At the shop, talking to Stan, telling him he assumed he and Harry were a fling.

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit,” Harry parrots, mocking. “Took you long enough.”

“I don’t know what you heard, but listen, I didn’t meant it like that –”

“Don’t fucking deny it.” Harry’s lower lip is wobbling and Louis’ heart feels like it’s about to burst.

“Harry, I’m so sorr- ”

“How could you say that?” Harry wastes no time in cutting in. “How could you throw away everything that’s happened this summer?”

“I’m not trying to throw it away, I promise. Harry, I – fuck, I’m not good at explaining, but if you just give me a minute. I didn’t mean it to sound like I was throwing all of this away.” Louis tries to reach out a hand to keep Harry here with him but he flinches away.

“I don’t know what you could say to make this better. I don’t think you realize how much that hurt me.” Louis has a bad feeling he wasn’t supposed to hear that last part, as Harry sniffles and avoids looking at his eyes.

It hurts, but it’s not a full rejection. Louis takes a deep breath. He has one shot at this, one chance to make it all right again before he loses this boy, his boy.

“My dad left when I was younger, you already know that. But do you realize how much strain that puts on my belief in any kind of love? And to see my mum have these flings as I was growing up and thinking hey, maybe this’ll be my new dad. And I know my mum and Dan are finally getting married, but it’s hard to even believe now that this will last. And that’s not me trying to place the blame on someone else, it’s just. It makes it kind of hard to put all my trust in any one person – especially someone as amazing and kind as you.”

Harry, fuck, when you literally shoved your way into my life I had no idea how you’d affect me. You’ve done so much for me and you can’t even see it, and I just had a feeling it was too good to be true. So when I told Stan it was just a fling, I guess it was just me assuming that you’d break it off sooner or later. Especially with me going off to uni and you having one more year of college. The raw truth of it is, I do want you Harry, for as long as you’ll have me. But I’m scared. I’m really fucking scared that it’ll be you leaving me, you walking away from this. I guess I just wanted to beat you to it so it wouldn’t hurt me as much.”

Louis is out of things to say and Harry’s crying freely now, tears streaking his pink cheeks and he’s worrying at his bottom lip, something that Louis would tease him about but now he doesn’t even know if he’s allowed to. He’s hunched in on himself and Louis feels awful, terrible that it’s him who’s done this. Neither of them say anything for a few moments, suspended in this pathetic silence as they stare at each other, Louis with hope in his eyes and Harry’s filled with sadness.

“Please say something.” Louis’ desperate now, fingers anxiously drumming on his thigh. “I can’t lose you.”

And he can’t. Much as he’s tried to tell himself otherwise he’s fucking head over heels for this gorgeous boy who makes him so, so happy.

Harry sniffles and wipes at his eyes before getting up from his swing and moving so that’s he straddling Louis’ legs. He shifts until he’s touching his forehead with Louis’ and gripping at his shoulders like they’re his lifeline. Louis can feel his fingers trembling.

“You fucking better not be lying. Or I’ll – I’ll beat you senseless.”

Imaging Harry finding the courage to actually punch Louis is almost laughable, but Louis doesn’t feel at all close to laughing due to the somber circumstances. Instead he vows, “I’m not, I would never.”

“You mean a lot to me. I –shit – I proper love you, you know that? But you’re a twat sometimes. Hearing you say that really hurt me. Still hurts me. I’m not planning on leaving you Louis, you can move as far as you want and stop answering my texts but I’ll always find you. I’ll be there waiting on my knees on your doorstep begging you to keep me.”

Louis chokes out a wet cough. “I know, and I’m so fucking sorry, H. I - I proper love you too. Really. I don’t want this to end, I don’t want to throw us away.”

“If I hear you talking like that behind my back again...”

“Harry, I’m so sorry, really, please – ”

“Just shut up and kiss me you fool.”

And Louis does. They’re both still crying, but they’re laughing too and it’s not so much a kiss as an exchange of tears. Harry’s digging his nails into Louis’ back and Louis is tugging on Harry’s hair in the hopes that it’s possible to get him even closer. Everywhere they’re touching feels like fire, Louis feels alive and burning and happy.

So it’s the end of summer and it’s blistering hot outside where they’re sitting, but Louis feels connected to it all, to the moment with Harry by his side and on his lips.

 

**EPILOGUE**

It’s 2 am, the day after Thanksgiving, and Louis wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing, the shrill sounds of ‘Barbie Girl’ filling the once silent room with too much noise. Louis makes a promise to himself that he’ll kick Harry in the balls for setting that as his ringtone.

“Fuck off,” he says groggily.

“Lou, this is important,” Harry whispers dramatically. “We have a mission to accomplish.”

“We don’t have anything to accomplish until at least tomorrow morning. I’m sleeping.” Louis rolls back over onto his side and closes his eyes, phone tucked loosely between his ear and the pillow.

“Please Louis,” Harry whines quietly. “Please come outside.”

Louis’ brain takes a minute to catch up before he realizes that he has no idea what Harry’s saying about anything. “What are you talking about?”

He hears Harry sigh long and loud over the phone before he answers, annoyed and huffy, “I’m outside your house waiting for you to get in the car should you choose to accept your assignment.” As if that was supposed to be obvious.

A pause.

“Lou? Are you still there?”

“Yes I’m still fucking here you curly bastard. Whatever you’re smoking, there better be some for me when I get down there.” Grumbling, Louis hauls himself out of bed and throws on the first pair of pants and shirt he can find in the semi darkness. There’s a sliver of moon peeking out through the clouds, illuminating the sky just barely so that when Louis looks out the window he can make out the dim outline of Harry’s car in his driveway.

As quietly as he can, Louis makes his way down the hall past his sisters’ bedrooms and creeps down the stairs, making sure to skip over the last two which tend to squeak. He grabs a spare key off the rack before he makes his great escape, shutting the door slowly and stealthily launching himself into the passenger seat of Harry’s car.

He’s supposed to be mad at him, but Louis’ come to realize he can’t quite hold a grudge against his boy. So when Harry busts out into a smile so big it looks like he’ll explode and leans in to kiss him, he doesn’t object.

The kiss is chaste but the taste of Harry lingers on his tongue. He tastes like vanilla and a bit of mint and home. Once he’s managed to gather all his limbs back onto his side of the car, Harry backs them out of the drive and directs them out of the neighborhood.

“You know, I’ve begun to notice that you never tell me where we’re going. I still have a feeling you’re going to end up taking me to the middle of nowhere and sawing my legs off in an abandoned barn,” Louis remarks. He watches as they streak by quiet neighborhoods and dark shops. There’s absolutely no one else on the road. Like this, it feels like they’re in their own sort of bubble, closed off and private from the rest of the world.

“You should know by now that I’m not that devious,” Harry laughs. He takes a sharp left turn onto the highway. “Besides, the sex is too good for me to even consider getting rid of you now.”

“Good to know my body is the only reason you’re keeping me around,” Louis replies dryly. He reaches across the console and tangles their fingers together. He likes the way Harry’s are long and slender; they fill the gaps between his own fingers quite nicely. The cool metal of his rings prickle his skin and ground him.

“One of the many reasons, I can assure you.”

They’re pulling off the highway, exiting somewhere about twenty minutes outside the city. Louis doesn’t recognize area, and he’s even more confused when Harry parks them right by the outskirts of a forest.

“Oh god,” he cries. “You really are going to kill me.”

Harry reaches over and pinches his arm. “Would you stop that? Just follow me.”

They get out of the car together and Harry grabs Louis’ hand while he guides them into the dark woods. There’s no path of any sort to follow but Harry seems to know where he’s going as he leads them through a nonsensical pattern of twists and turns and under branches with dangling leaves. He uses the flashlight on his phone as a guide, meaning they can only see about five feet in front of them. The trees are sparse and the ground mostly rough and dry due to the heat but it’s still all very beautiful.

They walk on in silence until there’s an opening between the foliage and upon closer inspection it reveals a small lake. The water is murky blue in the nighttime, ringed with green where the moss from the rocks touches it. Louis can’t tell how deep it is but he imagines the water would at least cover half his body. There’s enough of a gap in the trees now that the moonlight casts a dim light that allows Louis to see without the flashlight.

“What’s this then?” Louis lets go of Harry’s hand and wanders around half the perimeter of the lake.

“I told you we were on a mission.” Harry’s voice sounds farther off now as Louis walks along the rocks, staring down into the water. He hopes there aren’t any fish to nibble on his fingers if he decides to test the temperature.

“Yeah? And what’s that supposed to me –” He’s cut short when he turns back to look at Harry.

Harry who is now stark naked, hands crossed in front of him and hip cocked. Louis doesn’t mean to let his eyes linger on Harry’s soft, pink cock resting against his thigh but hey, it’s his boyfriend. Louis can check him out if he wants to.

“Uh, mate? You’ve seemed to have lost your mind.” And okay, yes Louis might be drooling but who wouldn’t be? Harry’s got an impressive body.

“Feel the air around us Lou, it’s practically boiling! And how dare we waste such a rare opportunity to go skinny dipping at night and not freeze our bums off!” Harry ignores Louis’ retort (“Yes, Harold, but there’s a thing called a pool that’s open all day so I don’t see why this is necessary.”) and uses a running start to leap into the lake.

It produces quite a splash, but as the water settles out and Louis can once again see his reflection on the surface and Harry still hasn’t come back up, he gets a little worried.

“If this is your sick idea to get me to come in after you, it won’t work Styles,” Louis calls. He’d rather not make a fool of himself if Harry’s just pretending.

He waits a few more moments, shouts a few more vulgar phrases, and paces around half the lake before he finally starts stripping.

“Harry?” Louis calls one last time. Oh god, what if he jumped on a sharp rock and has been bleeding out this whole time, fucking shit –

Louis dives in and feels around rapidly with his hands. The water is too murky to see through so he keeps his eyes shut as he feels his way down. If Harry did get hurt, he’d be at the bottom, body limp and dead like a ragdoll and god. Louis’ running out of breath quickly, so he decides to take a quick breath at the surface before exploring anymore of the lake. He swims up quickly and gulps greedily at the air before finally opening his eyes and glancing around and.

There, across the lake, perched on a smooth boulder that juts out from the ground, sits a very smiley, very much alive Harry Styles. He’s laughing, great belly laughs that Louis can hear echo through the woods as Louis swims over to him and starts violently splashing water at him.

“Fuck you,” Louis shouts. “Fuck you for making me think you were dead!”

Harry, still laughing, tries to respond but ends up with a mouthful of water, courtesy of Louis. He holds his hands up in surrender and tries to cough the water out as Louis slowly stops his splashing and settles for a death glare.

“That wasn’t nice.” Harry’s stopped laughing and pushes himself back into the water so he’s floating in front of Louis.

“Would a kiss make you feel better? I’m really good with my kisses.” Harry bats his eyelashes temptingly.

Louis pretends to think about it for a minute, weighs his options, and nods grudgingly. Harry lights up and swims forward so that he can wrap his arms around Louis’ neck and lean in to press the gentlest of kisses on his lips.

“Can’t you do better than that?” Louis whines. He suddenly becomes all too aware of the fact that they’re both naked under the water.

Harry giggles and tries again, licking open the seam of Louis’ mouth and sighing as he nibbles on his bottom lip. Louis reaches down to pet at Harry’s soft bum and pull him closer until Harry’s wrapping his legs around Louis’ waist and they’re both sinking into the water, sputtering and laughing as they let go and float back up to the surface.

“Guess I didn’t plan this very well,” Harry groans as Louis resumes mouthing at Harry’s neck.

“That’s why karma is a bitch. You pretend to be dead and now you don’t get me,” Louis smirks.

“Nooo,” Harry whines. “You’re just a grumpy old man. Anyone else would have appreciated that as a good prank.”

“As a master of pranks, I’d give that a negative five out of ten. Poor execution and it put both our lives in danger.”

“Please, if we were actually going to be in any danger then I wouldn’t have done it. Unless you were prone to drowning you were absolutely fine and, as we both know, I’m good at holding my breath.” Harry looks pleased with himself. Louis decides it’s the right time to jump on Harry and shove him underwater. Of course, this ensues in a water fight, which eventually turns into more kisses. They aren’t too heated, really, just a soft exchange of lips. Harry presses chaste kisses across Louis’ cheeks and along his jaw with no real purpose. It’s not a precursor to anything more, and it’s nice and slow and different from how they usually are around each other.

“I love you, you know,” Louis whispers to his boy.

“I might love you too,” Harry giggles. Louis loves that even after saying it practically a dozen times to each other, Harry can still look all blushy and shy when he hears it.

“‘Might’, huh?”

“Okay, I am certain that I love you,” Harry amends, looking coy.

The fact that they can so freely announce these declarations of love still surprises Louis. After they’d made up, Louis had continued to voice his apologies until Harry got so tired of it that he stripped down and sat down on Louis’ face, effectively shutting him up.

They weren’t perfect, after that. They still had a lot to talk through, but the combination of a few sleepless night spent talking and making up with a lot of sex helped them out. Louis came to the conclusion that though he’d be heading off to university, he’d make sure to drive home every other weekend to see Harry. Harry was perfectly content with that arrangement and excitedly suggested that once he did graduate from college they could buy a flat together for the remainder of their school years.

And shockingly, Louis wasn’t bowled over with panic. The idea of moving in with his boyfriend, his boyfriend, sounded like the best thing he’d ever heard. If anything, he was annoyed that they’d have to wait a whole year to do it.

So far, it’s been fairly successful. Louis has seen Harry a handful of times since he went off to uni, and he’s never once had any doubt that he and Harry would suffer through a long distance relationship. The skype sex is great, the phone sex is also great, and whenever they have gotten to see each other in person, they’re quick to make up for lost time. Louis’ been home a total of three days and already he’s covered in thick bruises and Harry has a limp. They’re both glossy-eyed and well fucked and Louis has never been so relaxed and happy.

Now, as he looks at Harry, at his messy wet curls and his greengreen eyes and his petal pink lips, he can’t imagine ever having to give him up. It seemed only logical in the summer that Harry would get bored and move onto someone who was his own age, someone he could make plans with and not have to sacrifice seeing every day. But he’s quickly come to the realization that fate would have never let them be anywhere else. They’re HarryandLouis, a package deal. In the wise words of Louis Tomlinson, fate is one mysterious motherfucker.

\---

(One day, Harry will tell this story to his kids when they’re tucked in their beds, covers pulled up to their chins. They won’t believe him until Louis comes in and confirms it, word for word, though their three-year-old son will still be skeptical that Harry’s last name hasn’t always been Tomlinson.)

**Author's Note:**

> to anyone who has made it this far, thank you.
> 
> i also apologize for any mistakes you might have seen along the way its late and i'm tired
> 
> [find me on twitter](https://twitter.com/theofficeharry)


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